George Ingram George Morby Ingram VC , MM ( 18 March 1889 – 30 June 1961 ) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest decoration for gallantry " in the face of the enemy " that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces . Ingram became Australia ' s final recipient of the Victoria Cross during the First World War following his actions during an attack on the village of Montbrehain in France . Leading a platoon during the engagement , he instigated several charges against a number of German strong points that eventuated in the seizure of ten machine guns and sixty - two prisoners , as well as inflicting high casualties . Born in the Victorian town of Bendigo , Ingram was apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner upon leaving school . Joining the militia at the age of fourteen , he later settled in Melbourne where he worked as a building contractor . Following the outbreak of the First World War , Ingram enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force and served on New Guinea before receiving his discharge in early 1916 . Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on the same day , he embarked for the Western Front . He was decorated with the Military Medal following his actions as a member of a bombing section during an attack on Bapaume . Commissioned as a second lieutenant in June 1918 , Ingram returned to Australia in 1919 where he was discharged soon after . Re - settling in Melbourne , he was employed as a foreman for a building contractor company . Enlisting for service in the Second World War , he was allotted to the Royal Australian Engineers and achieved the rank of captain before being placed on the Retired List in 1944 . Ingram died in 1961 at the age of 72 . Early life . Ingram was born in Bendigo , Victoria , on 18 March 1889 to George Ronald Ingram , a farmer , and his wife Charlotte ( née Hubbard ) . Initially educated at the Lilydale State School , he left school at age fourteen and was apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner . Joining the militia at this time , he was attached to No . 7 Company of the Australian Garrison Artillery and in 1906 attended a military exhibition in New Zealand as a member of the Australian contingent . Completing his apprenticeship , Ingram moved to Caulfield , Melbourne , where he entered into business as a building contractor . On 19 January 1910 , Ingram married Jane Francis Nichols in a Congregational ceremony at East Prahran . First World War . On 10 December 1914 , Ingram enlisted as a private in the 3rd Battalion , Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force at South Yarra . Initially posted for service on the newly captured German territory of New Guinea , he returned to Australia 6 December 1915 , and was discharged on 19 January with the rank of corporal . That same day , he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and was allotted to the 16th Reinforcements of the 24th Battalion as a private . In October , Ingram embarked with the unit from Melbourne aboard HMAT " Nestor " . Arriving in France , he was appointed acting corporal and joined the 24th Battalion in January 1917 . On the night of 15 – 16 March 1917 , Ingram took part in the battalion ' s attack on the village of Bapaume during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line . Posted to a bombing section during the engagement , he became involved in a fight with German troops who outnumbered his unit . Making effective use of their grenades , the unit was able to hold off the German attack . Later during the assault , the German forces returned in large numbers , forcing the bombing section to retreat . Ingram , in conjunction with two others , covered the party ' s withdrawal which thus minimised casualties . For his actions during the battle , Ingram was awarded the Military Medal , the citation noting his " . . . great courage and initiative . . . " . The announcement of the award was published in a supplement to the " London Gazette " on 11 May 1917 . Promoted to temporary sergeant on 18 March , Ingram fell ill in April and was hospitalised in Britain until June when he was deemed fit to return to his battalion . He was hospitalised once again in September after dislocating his knee , and upon returning to his unit on 10 October he was made company sergeant major . It was at this time that the Australian focus for the remainder of the year was to be the Ypres sector in Belgium , and as such the 24th Battalion participated in the Battle of Passchendaele . During this time , Ingram was recommended for a commission in the 24th Battalion as a second lieutenant , which was confirmed on 20 June 1918 . Three days later , however , he was once again admitted to hospital suffering from an illness , and as such was unable to assume his duties as an officer until 12 July when he returned to the battalion . Victoria Cross . On 4 October 1918 , the 24th Battalion took part in the attack that captured the Beaurevoir sector in France , and was , therefore , expecting to have a rest the following day when the unit was unexpectedly ordered to take part in another attack . The assault was to commence at 06 : 05 from the village of Remicourt , and lead to the capture of Montbrehain by the 21st and 24th Battalions with tanks to provide support . The action was to prove the final engagement for the Australian infantry during the war , and it was during this attack that Ingram was to earn the Victoria Cross ; the sixty - fourth , and final , Australian to do so during the First World War . At the designated time , the two infantry battalions commenced the attack under the cover of an artillery barrage . The advance was heavily counter - attacked by German machine gun and artillery fire , but the Australians managed to continue despite the late arrival of the tanks . Approximately from the German trenches , the 24th Battalion ' s B Company — in which Ingram was commanding a platoon — became the object of severe sniper and machine gun fire , halting the unit ' s advance . Under the cover of a Lewis Gun , Ingram dashed ahead of his men and led them against the German strong point . After a fierce fight , the platoon succeeded in capturing nine machine guns and killing all forty - two Germans who had occupied the line ; Ingram accounting for at least eighteen of them himself . Soon after , the company came under heavy fire from an old quarry occupied by over one hundred German soldiers who possessed as many as forty machine guns . Severe casualties were sustained as they began to advance for attack , including the company commander who fell seriously wounded . Taking command of the attack , Ingram rallied the men and rushed forward . Jumping into the quarry , he charged the first post himself , shooting six German soldiers and capturing a machine gun . The German forces were soon overcome , and thirty troops subsequently surrendered . While his men were clearing up the remaining German positions , Ingram scouted ahead in search of machine gun nests in the village . He soon located one positioned in a house , which had been firing through the cellar ventilator . Managing to enter the house , he shot the gunner through the ventilator . He fired several more shots into the cellar before rushing to the head of the cellar stairs . By thus cutting off any means of escape , a further thirty Germans were taken prisoner . The battle for Montbrehain raged until 20 : 00 that night , during which time the line had been linked up and consolidated . The casualties of the 24th Battalion had been so high that two companies of the 27th Battalion had to be attached for support ; the 24th Battalion left the frontline for the last time on 6 October . The full citation for Ingram ' s Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement to the " London Gazette " on 6 January 1919 , it read : Ingram was promoted to lieutenant on 24 October , and was training away from the frontline with his battalion when the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 ; thus ending the war . On 25 February 1919 , Ingram was decorated with his Victoria Cross by King George V in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace . Boarding a troopship bound for Australia soon after , he arrived in Melbourne on 5 March and was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 2 June . Later life . Following his discharge , Ingram re - settled in Melbourne and gained employment as a general foreman with " E . A . & Frank Watts Pty Ltd " , building contractors . In 1926 , Ingram ' s marriage with his wife Jane was dissolved upon his instigation on the grounds of desertion on her behalf . On 10 February the following year , he married Lillian Wakeling ( née Hart ) , a widow , at the Methodist parsonage , Malvern ; the pair were later to have one son . On 11 November 1929 , Ingram attended the Victoria Dinner for recipients of the Victoria Cross in Melbourne . Following the completion of Melbourne ' s Shrine of Remembrance in 1935 , Ingram was chosen as a member of its permanent guard . There had been two hundred and fifty applications for the position , of which only fourteen were appointed ; Ingram being one of the earliest . Following the outbreak of the Second World War , Ingram once again volunteered his services and enlisted in the militia on 17 November 1939 . Posted to a unit in the Royal Australian Engineers , he achieved the rank of captain before being placed on the Retired List on 6 May 1944 . Ingram ' s wife Lillian died in May 1951 , and on 24 December of the same year he married another widow , Myrtle Lydia Thomas ( née Cornell ) , in a ceremony at Brunswick Methodist Church ; the couple later had a son , Alex . In 1954 , Ingram attended the dedication of the Shrine of Remembrance by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on 28 February following an expansion on the monument to encompass Australia ' s contributions to the Second World War . Two years later , he joined the Australian contingent of Victoria Cross recipients who attended the parade in London ' s Hyde Park to commemorate the centenary of the institution of the Victoria Cross . On 30 June 1961 , Ingram died of coronary vascular disease at his home in Hastings , Victoria , and was buried at Frankston Cemetery . He is commemorated by a street name in Canberra . On 27 May 2008 , the Victoria Cross , Military Medal and campaign medals awarded to Ingram were sold at auction by Sotheby ' s of Melbourne for an approximate hammer price of A $ 383 , 760 . The purchaser of the medals is unknown , but indicated that the Victoria Cross would be donated to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra . This subsequently took place , and Ingram ' s Victoria Cross is currently on display along with his other medals in the Memorial ' s Hall of Valour .