John Edmondson ( VC ) John Hurst Edmondson VC ( 8 October 1914 – 14 April 1941 ) 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 . Early life . John Hurst Edmondson was born at Wagga Wagga , New South Wales . His parents moved to the Sydney suburb of Liverpool where he attended Austral Public School and Hurlstone Agricultural High School . He later became a farm worker . World War II . On 20 May 1940 he enlisted in the 2 / 17th Battalion after serving with the 4th Militia Battalion since March 1939 . He was promoted to corporal . After training at Ingleburn and Bathurst , his battalion embarked for the Middle East on 19 October 1940 as reinforcements for the 9th Division . After desert training , his division relieved the 6th Australian Division at Marsa Brega in Cyrenaica on 9 March 1941 . On 31 March , the German forces under the command of General Erwin Rommel mounted an attack on the Australian and British positions , forcing them to retreat . The 9th Division took up new positions outside the port of Tobruk and on 11 April , the now famous siege began . Victoria Cross Citation . The announcement and accompanying citation for the decoration was published in supplement to the London Gazette on 1 July 1941 , reading An hour later , 200 German infantrymen attacked the post , forcing the Australians to withdraw , and established a bridgehead in the outer defensive line . However , the fierceness of the platoon ' s defence pressured Rommel into diverting troops from his main attack . The attack failed , with the German tanks being mauled and forced to retreat with heavy casualties . Corporal John Edmondson died of his wounds and is buried in the Tobruk war cemetery . He was the first Australian to receive the Victoria Cross in the war . Edmondson ' s VC was presented to his mother by the Governor - General on 27 September 1941 . In 1969 , she presented her son ' s medals and some of his personal belongings to the Australian War Memorial , where they still are on display . Legacy . His name is still honoured by : the John Edmondson VC Rest Area at Roses Lagoon on the Remembrance Driveway from Sydney to Canberra ; John Edmondson VC Memorial RSL Club , Liverpool , NSW ; a plaque in the Walk of Honour in Baylis Street , in his birthplace of Wagga Wagga , NSW ; the school hall in his former school , Hurlstone Agricultural High School , is named after him ; a high school in the Horningsea Park district in NSW is named after him ; Edmondson Park and Edmondson Street in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde is named in his honour . Edmondson St in Campbell situated in Canberra , within 400m of the War Memorial is also named in his honour . Freemasons ' Lodge Victoria Cross No . 928 of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory ( UGLNSWACT ) which meets in Fairfield , NSW . was formed in honour of Cpl J H Edmonson , who was posted to Holsworthy Army Barracks , and was an attending member of Liverpool Lodge . The Edmondson VC Club at ARTC Kapooka , an outer suburb of Wagga Wagga , is also named in his honour .