Bruce Steel Kingsbury VC (1918 - 1942)

Ancestors

Biography

Bruce Steel Kingsbury VC was born on 8th January 1918 in Preston, Victoria, Australia. He was the second son of Philip Kingsbury, an estate agent, and his wife Florence Steel. ^[1] Kingsbury attended Windsor State School, with results sufficient to earn a scholarship at Melbourne Technical College. Although qualifying as a printer, Kingsbury began working at his father's real estate business, a job he disliked. He soon left with his buddy, Alan Avery, on various adventures, returning on occasion, probably to bolster the adventure funds.

Victoria Cross

Upon hearing the dreadful news of the fall of France and the Dunkirk evacuation, Kingsbury signed up to the Australian Imperial Force on 29th May 1940. ^[2] Initially posted to the 2/2nd Australian Pioneer Battalion, Kingsbury ran into his buddy, Alan Avery, who was a member of the 2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion. ^[3] Kingsbury arranged a transfer in time to join the 2/14th as it embarked for the Middle East on 19th October 1940 aboard the HMT Aquitania. The battalion served in the Middle East in both the North African Campaign and Syria–Lebanon Campaign (where Alan would earn a Military Medal) before returning to Australia in 1942 and being rushed to Papua. Kingsbury gained renown for his actions during the Battle of Isurava, one of many battles forming the Kokoda Campaign in Papua.

Kingsbury became engaged to be married to Leila Bradbury. They had, however, been unable to arrange a wedding before he left again for war.

On 29th August 1942, having held back the Japanese advance for three days of what would become known as the Battle of Isurava, there now appeared a strong chance of the battalion being totally overrun. Kingsbury was one of the few survivors of a platoon that had already been overrun by the Japanese. On his own initiative, he rushed forward firing his Bren gun from the hip. He cut a swathe through the enemy and inflicted many casualties. He was then seen to fall, shot by a Japanese sniper and killed instantly. His actions, which delayed the Japanese long enough for the Australians to fortify their positions, were instrumental in saving his battalion's headquarters and he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), gazetted in London on 9th February 1943: ^[4] the first Australian soldier to be awarded the VC for actions in the South Pacific and also the first on Australian territory. His body now rests in the Bomana Cemetery, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Bruce Steel Kingsbury's name is located at panel 38 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. ^[5]

Kingsbury's Rock, the rock next to which Kingsbury died, stands within sight of where the 2/14th Battalion's headquarters had been established, and has been incorporated as part of the Isurava Memorial.

The Melbourne suburb of Kingsbury was named in his honour, as is a rest area on the Sydney-Canberra Remembrance Driveway and Kingsbury Street, Gowrie, ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria Birth Index #4187/1918; registered at Hotham West
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: VX19139 Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury; accessed 3 Jun 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 3 Jun 2019
4. ↑ London Gazette 5 February 1943 Supplement: 35893 Page: 695; accessed 3 Jun 2019
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: VX19139 Private Bruce Steel Kingsbury; accessed 3 Jun 2019
6. ↑ in the Australian Capital Territory. ACT Government; accessed 3 Jun 2019

See also

• Blanch, Craig and Pegram, Aaron. For Valour: Australians awarded the Victoria Cross. New South Publishing, Sydney NSW, 2018. ISBN 978 17422 35424.
• McAllester, James C. 'Kingsbury, Bruce Steel (1918–1942)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2000; accessed online 3 Jun 2019.
• McAllester, J C. Men of the 2/14 Battalion, Melbourne, 2/14 Battalion Association, 1990.
• Russell W B. The Second Fourteenth Battalion: A history of an Australian infantry battalion in the Second World War, Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1948.
• Wikipedia profile: Bruce Kingsbury; accessed 3 Jun 2019.