Charles Pope Charles Pope VC ( 5 March 1883 – 15 April 1917 ) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . He received the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions on 15 April 1917 on the Western Front at the Battle of Lagnicourt , which took place during the First World War . Early life . Born in Mile End , London , on 5 March 1883 , Charles Pope ' s parents were William , a Metropolitan Police constable , and Jane Pope ( born Clark ) . He attended school in Navestock , Essex , before moving to Canada where he worked for Canadian Pacific Railways . He returned to England in 1906 and joined the Metropolitan Police . Later that year , at St Luke ' s Anglican Church in Chelsea , he married Edith Smith , with whom he would have two children , Edith Maude and Charles William . In 1910 , Pope resigned from the police force and moved his family to Perth , Western Australia . He took up work as a furniture salesman and then took on a role in the insurance sector . Military career . Amidst the backdrop of the First World War , Pope enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) on 31 August 1915 , volunteering to serve overseas as part of Australia ' s commitment to World War I . Assigned as a reinforcement to 11th Battalion , which had been formed largely from Western Australians and was at the time fighting at Gallipoli , after training he was quickly made a sergeant . By February 1916 , he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and four months later sailed for England , to join the battalion , which had been transferred to Europe following its evacuation from Gallipoli , along with a batch of reinforcements . Sailing on HMAT " Ajana " , he arrived at Plymouth on 1 September 1916 . On 9 December 1916 , Pope arrived on the Western Front reporting to the 11th Battalion , which was camped around Bazentin le Grand for the winter having fought at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm earlier in the year . Later that month he was promoted to lieutenant and in early 1917 he attended the divisional school . Pope subsequently fought in actions around Flers , Le Barque , and Ligny – Thilloy . On 15 April 1917 at Louverval , France , during the Battle of Lagnicourt , he was in command of a very important picquet post , with orders to hold it at all costs amidst a heavy German attack . The enemy , in greatly superior numbers , attacked and surrounded the post and ammunition was running short . Pope , in a desperate bid to save the position , was " seen to charge with his men into a superior enemy force , by which they were overpowered " , although heavy losses were inflicted . He had " obeyed the order to hold out to the last " and his lifeless body , along with those of most of his men , was found amongst 80 enemy dead . The 11th Battalion , despite suffering over 245 casualties , was subsequently able to hold their sector of the line . For his actions Pope was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross . The award was announced in the " London Gazette " on 8 June 1917 . He is buried at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension in France , while his Victoria Cross is displayed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra . Legacy . The Charles Pope ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital , Hollywood is named in his honour .