Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett

Forenames

Cyril Royston Guyton AWMM

Surname

Bassett AWMM

Service number

• WWI 4/515 AWMM
• WWII 802313 AWMM

Gender

Male AWMM

Religion

Church of England, Christian AWMM

Birth

3 Jan 1892 Military Personnel file

Address before enlistment

WW1 Unknown AWMM 26 Burleigh Street, Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM

Post war occupation

• Banker/Civilian AWMM
• Bank manager/Civilian AWMM
• Justice of the Peace/Civilian AWMM

Next of kin

WW1 T.C. Bassett (father), Burleigh Street, Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM

Relationship status

• Pre 16 Oct 1914 AWMM Single/WWI AWMM
• 1926 AWMM Married/InterWar AWMM
  Ruth Louise Grant AWMM

War

• World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
• World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Campaign

1915-1916 AWMM Gallipoli AWMM

Armed force / branch

Army AWMM

Service number

• WWI 4/515 AWMM
• WWII 802313 AWMM

Military service

• Auckland College Rifles Volunteers AWMM
• Auckland Divisional Signal Company AWMM

Medals and Awards

• Victoria Cross (VC) AWMM
  Victoria Cross (VC). London Gazette 15 October 1915 , page 1054. On 7 August 1915 at Chunuk Bair Ridge, Gallipoli, Turkey, after the New Zealand Brigade had attacked and established itself on the ridge, Corporal Bassett, in full daylight and under continuous fire, succeeded in laying a telephone line from the old position to the new one on Chunuk Bair. He also did further gallant work in connection with the repair of telephone lines by day and night under heavy fire. He is quoted "I was so short that the bullets just passed over me". AWMM
• 1914 Star (5th Aug-22nd Nov 1914 clasp) AWMM
• British War Medal (1914-1920) AWMM
• Victory Medal AWMM
• War Medal 1939-1945 AWMM
• New Zealand War Service Medal AWMM
• Coronation Medal 1937 AWMM
• Coronation Medal ER 1953 AWMM
• Silver Jubilee Medal 1977 AWMM
• Efficiency Decoration (ED) AWMM
• New Zealand Territorial Service Medal AWMM

Military training

Divisional training in Egypt AWMM

Enlistment

WW1

Embarkation details

WW1 16 Oct 1914-03 Dec 1914 NZEF Nom. Roll, Vol I.
HMNZT 3 NZEF Nom. Roll, Vol I. Vessel was Maunganui AWMM Sapper NZEF Nom. Roll, Vol I. New Zealand Field Engineers NZEF Nom. Roll, Vol I. Main Body AWMM

Medical notes

• Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
  Illness (cause unknown): 13 August 1915 - evacuated to England. AWMM
• Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
  Wounded twice on the Western Front. AWMM

Last rank

WW1 21 Jan 1919 AWMM
Served 4 years 165 days AWMM

Death

9 Jan 1983 AWMM

Cemetery

North Shore Memorial Park and Crematorium (Schnapper Rock), Albany, North Shore City, New Zealand AWMM Northern Division RSA Ash Lawn Section 2 Block A Row C Plot 42 AWMM

Obituary

Obituary: New Zealand Herald, 11 January 1983 p. 5 AWMM

Memorial name

Victoria Cross commemorative paving stone, National Memorial Aboretum, Staffordshire, England

Public - Sarndra - Researcher - 29 November 2015 - personal visit

Memorial name

• Dunedin, Victoria Cross winners' plaque, Queens Gardens, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
• St David's Church, 68 Khyber Pass Road, Grafton, Auckland 1023 AWMM

Related objects

External links

• Military Personnel File
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R23513639
  Further Reference
• Military Personnel File
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R23523695
  Further Reference
• Portrait of Cyril Bassett
  https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R24184878
  Further Reference
• Auckland Council. North burial and cremation records search
  http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/parksfacilities/cemeteries/Pages/northburialcremationrecords.aspx
  Sources Used
• National Archives of New Zealand, National Collection of War Art. Portrait.
  http://warart.archives.govt.nz/node/584
  Further Reference
• The National Bank RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition.
  http://www.rsa.org.nz/remem/speech_comp.htm
  Further Reference
• Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Published on Te Ara, The encyclopedia of New Zealand online.
  http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3b15/bassett-cyril-royston-guyton
  Further Reference
• Birkenhead (Auckland) Returned Services Association website. Victoria Cross.
  http://www.birkenheadrsa.com/victoria-cross.html
  Further Reference
• Cyril Bassett VC, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
  http://digitalnz.org/records/35282370
  Further Reference
• Anzac: Sights and Sounds of World War I
  http://anzacsightsound.org/videos/all-my-mates-ever-got-were-wooden-crosses
  Further Reference
• Anzac: Sights and Sounds of World War I
  http://anzacsightsound.org/audios/getting-the-message-through-at-chunuk-bair
  Further Reference
• Anzac: Sights and Sounds of World War I
  http://anzacsightsound.org/audios/seasick-men-and-horses
  Further Reference
• Wikidata Entity
  http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5200864
  Further Reference
• Johnston, Sarah. (2023). “With the boys overseas: How Homefront listeners shaped the work of Aotearoa New Zealand's first battlefront broadcasters”. New Zealand Journal of Public History, 9, 33-58.
  https://phanza.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sarah-Johnston-With-the-Boys-Overseas.pdf
  Further Reference
• New Zealand's Great War 1914-1918/Aotearoa me Te Pakanga Nui 1914-1918
  http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/nzef/
  Public - Peter - Researcher - 13 December 2018 - Military Personnel file

References

• The Register of the Victoria Cross. (1997). (3rd ed.). Cheltenham, England: This England.
• New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
  Vol1: 39
• New Zealand Memories
  Townsend, Colin. (2004, Apr/May). Corporal Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett : N.Z. Divisional Signal Company. V.C.New Zealand memories, issue 47.
• Bryant, G.A. (1972). Where the prize is highest : the stories of the New Zealanders who won the Victoria Cross. Auckland, N.Z.: Collins.
• The New Zealand Herald
  Tapaleao, V. (2009, 11 November). Tribute to Gallipoli's bravest. New Zealand Herald. Includes portrait with Bassett wearing the VC
• Harper, G., & Richardson, C. (2006). In the face of the enemy: The complete history of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand. Auckland, N.Z.: HarperCollins NZ.
  p.85-89
• The Register of the Victoria Cross. (1997). (3rd ed.). Cheltenham, England: This England.
  p. 22
• Auckland Grammar School Chronicle. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland Grammar School.
  Auckland Grammar School chronicle. 1915, Third term. pp.41-42.
• The New Zealand Herald
  New Zealand Herald, 9 November 2013, p.A13 (review of NZ and the First World War in Photographs by Glyn Harper)
• The New Zealand Herald
  Obituary: New Zealand Herald, 11 January 1983 p. 5
• The Evening Post
  New Zealanders Decorated, Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 29, 4 February 1916, Page 8. LONDON, 3rd February. The King decorated Corporal Bassett with the Victoria Cross, and Captain Shera (Auckland), Lieut, Turnbull (Wanganui), and Lieut. Bishop (Clutha) with the Military Cross. The New Zealanders' Band from Hornchurch escorted the heroes from Buckingham Palace to the Windsor Hotel. Victoria-street was thronged. Sir Thomas Mackenzie gave them a luncheon, at which Lady Hardwicke and 800 convalescent New Zealanders were present. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, in toasting the heroes, said it was amazing that the New Zealanders and Australians had not received greater honours for their glorious part in the strenuous and sanguinary fighting at Gallipoli. ....
• Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
  Vol. 1: Includes portrait
• McDonald, W. (2013). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. (3rd ed.). Hamilton, N.Z.: Richard Stowers.
• Cody, J.F. (1961). New Zealand Engineers, Middle East. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
• Harper, G., Clements, C., & Johns., R. (2019). For King and Other Countries: The New Zealanders Who Fought in Other Services in the First World War. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Press.