Frank Partridge ( VC ) Frank John Partridge VC ( 29 November 192423 March 1964 ) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross , a farmer and a television quiz champion . Early life . Partridge was born at Grafton , New South Wales . He was educated at Tewinga Public School until he left at the age of 13 to work on the family ' s dairy and banana farm at Upper Newee Creek , near Macksville . World War II . In December 1942 , during World War II , Partridge was conscripted by the Australian Army . He served as a private in the 8th Battalion , a Militia unit formed in Victoria . In May 1944 , the 8th Bn was posted to New Guinea . In June 1945 , the 8th Battalion was transferred to the Bougainville campaign , where it operated to contain Japanese forces on the Bonis Peninsula . It was here that Partridge performed a deed for which he received the Victoria Cross ( VC ) , the highest award for gallantry that could be awarded to British Commonwealth forces . On 24 July , Partridge was a member of a patrol ordered to destroy an enemy post , known as Base 5 , near Ratsua . His section came under heavy machine - gun fire and suffered severe casualties , including a Bren gun ner who was killed . Partridge , although he too had been badly wounded , retrieved the Bren gun and handed it to another man to provide covering fire , while he rushed a bunker and silenced the machine - gun with a grenade . He killed the only living occupant and attacked another bunker , but weakness from loss of blood compelled him to halt . Later he re - joined the fight and remained in action while the platoon withdrew from an untenable situation . Partridge was the last and youngest Australian to be awarded the VC in World War II . He and Corporal Reg Rattey were the only Militia personnel to win it and they received the only VCs awarded to Australians for actions on Bougainville . Later life . Discharged from the army in October 1946 , Partridge returned to the family farm . He lived with his father in a dirt - floored farmhouse , and in his spare time devoted himself to self - education , reading " Encyclopædia Britannica " by the light of a kerosene lamp . He had an extraordinarily retentive memory and in 1962 – 63 he appeared as a contestant on the television quiz show , " Pick a Box " , compered by Bob Dyer , alongside contestants such as Barry Jones . His laconic manner appealed strongly to viewers . Partridge was one of only three contestants to win all forty boxes and his prizes were valued at more than £ 12 , 000 ( in excess of A $ 250 , 000 in present day terms ) . He married Barbara Dunlop , a 31 - year - old nurse from Turramurra in Sydney , in February 1963 . The wedding received extensive media coverage . She remained in Sydney while Partridge built a new house at the farm . He drove to Sydney every weekend to see her . Later in 1963 , Partridge sought Country Party pre - selection for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Cowper . His political views were widely regarded as extreme , and he was not selected . To supplement the income from his farm , Partridge also sold life insurance . Partridge was killed in a car accident in 1964 , and was buried with full military honours in Macksville Cemetery . His wife and three month old son survived him . In 1989 a primary school at Nambucca Heads was named the Frank Partridge VC Public School .