Blair Anderson Wark, 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 other Commonwealth armed forces. A quantity surveyor and member of the Citizens Military Force, Wark enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 5 August 1915, for service in the First World War. After initially being employed in the defence of the Suez Canal, his battalion was shipped to the Western Front; it was here that Wark was twice decorated for his bravery and leadership. Having received the Distinguished Service Order in 1917 for his actions at the Battle of Polygon Wood, Wark was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1918 for his leadership and gallantry when in temporary command of his battalion over a three-day period, while conducting operations against the Hindenburg Line.
Blair Wark c. 1919
Captain Blair Wark c. 1916
One of the 77 mm guns captured by Wark on display at the Australian War Memorial in 2012
Blair Wark's medals while on temporary display at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra in 2017
The 5th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army which served during the First and Second World Wars. The division was formed in February 1916 as part of the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force infantry brigades. In addition to the existing 8th Brigade were added the new 14th and 15th Brigades, which had been raised from the battalions of the 1st and 2nd Brigades respectively. From Egypt the division was sent to France and then Belgium, where they served in the trenches along the Western Front until the end of the war in November 1918. After the war ended, the division was demobilised in 1919.
A machine gun position established by the 54th Battalion during its attack on German forces at Peronne, France, 1 September 1918.
Tel el Kebir camp, where the 5th Division was formed in 1916
Members of the 53rd Battalion, shortly before the Battle of Fromelles, July 1916.
Members of the 5th Division, on "smoko" by the side of the Montauban road, near Mametz, on the Somme, December 1916.