Daniel Poole Daniel Poole DCM & Bar ( 21 April 1882 – 13 August 1959 ) was a seaman and soldier of the Australian Army . On 15 April 1917 , during the battle of Lagnicourt , Poole collected a party of men and led them forward under heavy fire , killing nine enemy and capturing fifteen prisoners . For his leadership and bravery he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal . Early life . Daniel Poole was born on 21 April 1882 at Birkenhead , Cheshire , England , son of Richard Poole , baker , and his wife Anne , née Warburton . Leaving home at age 11 , he worked on a German sailing clipper . He arrived in Sydney in 1909 , and subsequently worked as a marine stoker and served for five years with the Royal Naval Reserve . Poole was described as 5 ft 8 ins ( 173 cm ) tall , with fair complexion , blue eyes , fair hair and tattooed on both arms and shoulders . Before joining the army , he gave his trade as marine fireman . Military career . On 15 August 1914 , Poole enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to German New Guinea . Poole returned to Australia with that force and he was discharged on 5 March 1915 . Like many other members of the expeditionary force , Poole subsequently enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 13 May 1915 . Poole was posted to the 20th Battalion , and that unit embarked from Sydney on 26 June 1915 , on board " HMAT A35 Berrima " . On 14 July 1915 , he was promoted to lance corporal . The 20th Battalion landed at Gallipoli on 22 August and the unit took up a position at Russell ' s Top until evacuated on 20 December . The battalion was taken to Egypt for further training and then moved to France , arriving at Marseilles on 25 March 1916 . He fought at the Somme and in July was involved in the heavy fighting at Pozières . On 16 August 1916 , Poole was promoted to temporary sergeant , later confirmed on 1 December . He was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 10 August 1918 . On 25 October 1939 , Poole reported for duty on mobilization of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve . He was allocated to HMAS Manoora , an armed merchant cruiser , as a petty officer stoker . After service in Australian , Papuan , New Guinea and South - West Pacific waters , Poole was discharged as medically unfit on 28 November 1941 . Acts of gallantry . On 15 April 1917 , during the battle of Lagnicourt , Poole gathered a party of volunteers and led them forward under heavy fire , killing nine enemy and capturing fifteen others . For his leadership and bravery he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal . Four days later , on 19 April , he was wounded and evacuated . The award was gazetted on 18 June 1917 , with the citation : Poole returned to his battalion on 7 September 1917 and he took part in the in Belgium . Near Westhoek on 20 September , Poole noticed an enemy machine - gun which had come into action after the barrage and first wave had passed . He rushed the post single handed , captured the gun , killed the crew and took prisoner a large number of men emerging from the pill - box . Although the battalion recommendation was for award of the Victoria Cross , for what was called " reckless leadership " , Poole received a Bar to his Distinguished Conduct Medal . On the same day Poole was wounded again and evacuated to Australia , arriving there on 11 January 1918 . The Bar was gazetted on 6 February 1918 , the citation read : Personal life . On 13 August 1910 , Poole married Mary O ' Donnell , a domestic servant and together they had one son . After his discharge from the AIF , Poole returned to his work as a seaman working for McIlwraith , McEacharn & Co and from 1937 , the Adelaide Steamship Company . Poole died in Sydney on 28 July 1959 and was cremated after an Anglican service . He was survived by his son .