PAYNE (Keith, b.1933, Australian Army 1951-1975, V.C. 1969)

Signed Portrait Photograph with his signature 'Keith Payne VC' in the left blank background, showing him half length, full face, in military short sleeved shirt and beret, a strong gaze in his eyes, 6" x 4", no place, no date, taken circa

Payne, already a veteran of the Korean War and the Malayan emergency, received his V.C. from Queen Elizabeth II aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, for his action in Vietnam when commanding a company of local montagnard troops. Ambushed and in danger of annihilation, wounded in the hands and arms, he organised a fighting retreat, placed his troops in a strong defensive formation, then went back under fire with a helicopter to identify and save forty wounded soldiers, some of whom he retrieved personally.
Payne, one of the most highly decorated Vietnam veterans, is well known for his support of soldiers and their families suffering from the trauma of war.

Item Date:  1969

Stock No:  54887      £125

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