Frank Partridge (soldier)
Frank John Partridge, VC was an Australian soldier, farmer, quiz show champion, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. He was decorated for his actions on Bougainville in July 1945, when he attacked two Japanese bunkers despite severe wounds. Partridge was the last and, at 20 years of age, the youngest Australian awarded the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. He later became a farmer and a television quiz champion, and unsuccessfully ran for political office shortly before his death in a car accident.
Private Frank Partridge in August 1946
Partridge (1st left) meets King George VI at Victory Parade, June 1946
Partridge's grave marker
The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan, named after the island of Bougainville. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific.
United States Army soldiers hunt Japanese infiltrators on Bougainville in March 1944.
Landing beaches near Cape Torokina
Landing craft circling off Cape Torokina
Antiaircraft gunners at Cape Torokina