So few Victoria Crosses have ever been given out, by comparison with the numbers that went off to fight in all conflicts since the middle of the 1800's. At least two that I know of went to local boys. These caches endeavour to recognise their valour. Another example where locals seem not to even know who they are which is a shame.
You are in spectacular company at this memorial as not only do we have another VC, but also a KBE (Knight of the British Empire) on the opposite end of the structure. See notes below cache details.
Air Vice Marshal Francis Hubert (Frank) McNamara, VC, CB, CBE
Date of birth: 04 April 1894
Place of birth: Rushworth, VIC
Date of death: 02 November 1961
Place of death: London, England
Francis Hubert (Frank) McNamaraFrank McNamara was the first Australian airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross. He was born at Rushworth, Victoria, on 4 April 1894. Having completed his secondary schooling in Shepparton, McNamara studied teaching at the Teachers Training College and the University of Melbourne.
He taught at a number of Victorian Schools and joined the Senior Cadets in 1911. The following year he transferred to the Brighton Rifles and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in July 1913. In the early months of the First World War he served at Queenscliff and then Point Nepean before attending the Officers Training School at Broadmeadows. Between February and May 1915 he instructed at the AIF Training Depot at Broadmeadows.
In August 1915 McNamara was selected to attend the Point Cook Flying School, graduating as a pilot in October that year. He was posted to No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, as an adjutant in January 1916 and sailed for Egypt. In May 1916 he left for an attachment to No. 42 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps to attend the Central Flying School at Upavon, England. Upon completing his course he was attached to No. 22 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps as an instructor in Egypt before returning to duty with No. 1 Squadron.
By March 1917, No. 1 Squadron was making regular bombing raids against Gaza. McNamara, flying on one such operation, saw a fellow squadron member, Captain D. W. Rutherford, shot down. Although having just suffered a serious leg wound, McNamara landed near the stricken Rutherford who climbed aboard, but his wound prevented McNamara from taking off and his aircraft crashed. The two men made it back to Rutherford's plane which they succeeded in starting and, with McNamara at the controls, they took off just as enemy cavalry reached the scene. For this action McNamara was awarded the Victoria Cross.
He was promoted to captain and appointed Flight Commander in April 1917, but his wound prevented further flying and he was invalided to Australia in August that year. His appointment with the Australian Flying Corps ended in January 1918 but he was reappointed in September and became an aviation instructor. In 1921 McNamara transferred to the newly established Royal Australian Air Force as a flight lieutenant. He held a number of senior RAAF appointments between the wars, and spent two years on exchange to the RAF in the mid-1920s.
At the beginning of the Second World War, McNamara was promoted to air commodore and, in 1942, air vice marshal. Between 1942 and 1945 he served as Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Aden before returning to London as the RAAF's representative at Britain's Ministry of Defence. In July 1946 he became Director of Education at the headquarters of the British Occupation Administration in Germany.
McNamara retired in England and died in London on 2 November 1961.
The Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest award for acts of bravery in wartime. It was instituted in 1856 by Queen Victoria and made retrospective to 1854 to cover the period of the Crimean War. It is possible for any serviceman to obtain this award.
The Victoria Cross is designed in the form of the Maltese Cross: in the centre of the medal is a lion guardant standing upon the Royal Crown. The words "For valour" are inscribed below. The Victoria Cross is suspended from a bar by a red ribbon. On the reverse of the cross the date of the act of bravery is inscribed, along with the name, rank, and unit of the recipient.
The Australian War Memorial displays 60 Victoria Crosses, the largest publicly held collection in the world. The Victoria Crosses are displayed together in the Memorial's Hall of Valour. These VC's have been donated or loaned to the Memorial by individuals, families, or unit associations to be displayed for the nation.
Standing at GZ you will see a plaque detailing in brief that which was described above. It was placed on an aniversary of the date on which the honour was awarded.
The date of the incident = AB March 1917
The number of letters in last word of plaque = F
New information as plaque has changed - D = F + 2
ABC = (D/2)(D/2)(D - 2)
XYZ = 103 + AB
The small/med cache will be found a short drive/walk away at the location of another two significant structures built when there was more money in town than there is today:
S36° 35.ABC'
E145° 01.XYZ'
Be careful not to be observed or it won't last long. Please replace as found.
Another local hero (see adjacent plaque on northern wall):
Air Marshal George Jones, KBE, CB, DFC
Date of birth: 22 November 1896
Place of birth: Rushworth, VIC
Date of death: 24 August 1992
Place of death: Melbourne, VIC
Sir George Jones
George Jones rose from being a private in the First World War to Chief of the Air Staff in the Second World War. He was born in Rushworth, Victoria, on 22 November 1896 to a farming family. Having left school at 14, Jones became a motor mechanic. He enlisted in the AIF in 1914, sailed for Egypt in July 1915 with the 9th Light Horse Regiment, and reached Gallipoli in September.
After Gallipoli, Jones joined the Imperial Camel Corps but transferred to the Australian Flying Corps in October 1916. He arrived in France in December 1916 and applied to become a pilot, graduating on 22 November 1917. He was badly wounded in March 1918 but by the end of the war had shot down seven German aircraft, reached the rank of captain, and been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After a period in occupied Germany with No. 4 Squadron, Jones returned to Australia in June 1919.
Jones worked as a mechanic and a pilot before receiving a short service commission in the Royal Australian Air Force. For much of the next five years he was in charge of the Point Cook workshops and was responsible for air testing newly repaired aircraft. On 1 July 1923 he was promoted to flight lieutenant and was made a squadron leader. In 1926 he transferred to the Flying Training School where he was an instructor and in charge of stores. Two years later he sailed for England to attend the Royal Air Force Staff College. Jones then attended - and graduated at the top of - the flying instructor's course at the Central Flying School in Yorkshire.
He returned to Australia in October 1930 and was given command of the Flying Training Squadron at Point Cook, a job that also carried the position of Chief Flying Instructor. After two years in this position, Jones was promoted to the position of Director of Training at RAAF Headquarters. On 1 January 1936 he was promoted to wing commander and appointed Director of Personnel Services. When the Second World War began, Jones was Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. He was involved in the establishment of the Empire Air Training Scheme before gaining further promotion, to group captain. Along with this promotion came his appointment as Director of Training.
In May 1942, Jones was appointed Chief of the Air Staff and promoted to air vice marshal. At the end of the war he represented the RAAF at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. He continued to oversee RAAF operations during the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, and in Malaya.
Jones retired from the RAAF in 1952 and was knighted in March 1954. Upon retiring he took up the position of Director of Coordination with the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. He retired, aged 60, in 1957 but continued to serve on the board of Ansett Transport Industries, a position he held for almost twenty years from 1951. He died in Melbourne in August 1992.
Information for this cache has been sourced from the Australian War Memorial site. It is presented here in it's unedited form.