Henry Dalziel, VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was awarded the VC while serving with the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. Dalziel's VC was the 1,000th awarded. After the war, Dalziel returned to Australia and tried to make a living by farming. Troubled by the injuries he sustained during the war, he left the land and took up factory work. He moved between jobs several times during the 1930s, and led something of a transient lifestyle, even at one stage turning to gold prospecting. In the mid-1930s he rejoined the army in a part-time capacity and during the Second World War served in a training role in Australia. He died in 1965 at the age of 72.
Early life
Henry Dalziel, the son of a Queensland miner, was born on 18 February 1893 in Irvinebank. After completing his education he began working as a fireman on the railway.
Dalziel volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force in early 1915 and was posted to the 15th Battalion as a reinforcement. He served throughout the Gallipoli Campaign until he was evacuated, along with the rest of his battalion, to Egypt in December 1915. From July 1916, he served on the Western Front in France and fought in the Battles of the Somme, Pozières and Mouquet Farm. His service continued into 1917, including the Battle of Messines but he was wounded during the Battle of Passchendaele at Polygon Wood. He returned to the front in June 1918. It was during the Battle of Hamel that Dalziel performed the deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Assigned to the battalion's transport company as a driver, he volunteered to join the attack to make up for a manpower shortage that the battalion was experiencing at that time. On 4 July 1918 at Hamel Wood, when determined resistance was coming from an enemy strong-point which was also protected by strong wire entanglements, Dalziel, armed only with a revolver, attacked an enemy machine-gun. He killed or captured the entire crew and, although severely wounded in the hand, carried on until the final objective was captured. He twice went over open ground under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to obtain ammunition and, although suffering from loss of blood, continued to fill magazines and serve his gun until wounded in the head. The citation for his VC, published in the London Gazette, read: Dalziel's VC was the 1,000th such medal to be awarded. His wounds were so severe that his brain was exposed and he was evacuated to England for medical treatment. It was not until January 1919 that he returned to Australia.
Later life
Discharged from the AIF in July 1919, the following year he married Ida Maude Ramsay, who had served as a nurse with the 17th Australian General Hospital. The couple took up a block of land for farming but his wife was primarily responsible for its running. After a few years, Dalziel tired of farming and moved to Sydney, where he took up factory work. His wife remained on the farm. He then tried his hand at gold mining in the Bathurst region before later returning to the farm when his wife became ill. By 1933, he was living in Brisbane but out of work. At this time, having maintained an interest in song writing since his time in hospital recuperating from his war wounds, he had some of his work published in England and the United States. From 1933, Dalziel served in the Citizen Military Forces and was a sergeant in the 9th/15th Battalion. During the Second World War, he did not serve abroad. Instead he supported recruitment and funding drives. He also conducted talks for troops at training camps. His final posting before he was discharged from the Army in December 1943 was to the 11th Training Battalion. In 1956, he travelled to England for the VC centenary celebrations. In late life, Dalziel lived in Oxley. On 24 July 1965, Dalziel suffered a stroke and died at the Greenslopes Private Hospital in Brisbane. He was cremated with full military honours. A plaque in his memory is laid at Mount Thompson crematorium, Brisbane.
Legacy
On 25 November 2010, a group of Dalziel's medals and associated documents were auctioned by Noble Numismatics in Sydney, fetching AUD $525,000 + commission. Tributes to Henry Dalziel VC include:
Dalziel Street in Nundah, an inner suburb of Brisbane, was named after him in about 1948.
Dalziel Avenue in Atherton, Queensland bares his namesake.
Henry Dalziel Oval at Irvinebank, Queensland is named in his honour.
The bar at the Atherton, Queensland, Returned Servicemen's Club is called The Harry Dalziel VC Memorial Bar.
In a park in Atherton a mounted WWI artillery piece stands as a memorial to Private Harry Dalziel VC.
The Army barracks at Enoggera and Singleton both have roads named in his honour.
The officers' club at the Army's Enoggera Barracks is named 'The Henry Dalziel VC Club'.
The Henry Dalziel VC Dialysis Centre, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Greenslopes, Queensland opened and named in his honour on 28 August 2003 by the Hon Danna Vale MP, Minister for Veterans Affairs and Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence. She said,
"The brave actions of Henry Dalziel are typical of the Australian spirit that burned brightly in World War I. It helped us to define ourselves as a nation. It gave us values and traditions that today echo and shine in the present generation of Australian servicemen and women. His bravery in the face of the enemy and his refusal to leave his mates despite being wounded are the actions that make his story so special. He was a true Anzac. He never gave up and he always looked after his mates."
