Private Percy Gratwick VC, 2/48th nfantry Battalion, a forty-year-old private from Western Australia, was described as 'a quiet and unaggressive man; a good soldier and a solid, reliable comrade'. On the night of 25–26 October 1942 at Ruin Ridge he was part of a patrol that suffered heavy losses in front of a German strong point. Gratwick leapt up and charged the enemy with grenades. After destroying the first post he made for the second with rifle and bayonet and succeeded in causing further casualties before being killed by a burst of machine-gun fire. 'It was so crazy and he was so quick', wrote a comrade, 'that the Jerries didn't realise what was happening'. Gratwick, formerly a gold prospector, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions that night. (AWM 100640)
Copyright expired - public domain