We wanted to visit some wineries for Valentine’s Day, but a late start and some unpaved routes guided by Google led us to Euroa, where we arrived after lunch and decided to have our picnic at the local RSL park rather than continue on to the wineries..

The massive eucalypts along the Seven Creeks were great shade to picnic under, although the retired risk manager in me made sure we were far enough from branches that are prone to falling atthis time of year!

The park was k nown as VC Park in honour of the three WW1 VC winners from the local area.

From left to right Lieutenant Edgar Leslie Cecil Willis Walker Maygar, Major Frederick Harold Tubb, and Corporal Allen Stewart Burton.

Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Leslie Cecil Willis Walker Magyar.

At the beginning of the South African War, he was initially rejected as a volunteer due to a bad tooth, but later joined the 5th (Mounted Rifles) Contingent and reached Cape Town in March 1901. For a year, the contingent was active in various battles in East Transvaal and was moved to Natal in August. On 23 November at Geelhoutboom, Lieutenant Maygar earned the Victoria Cross for saving a fellow soldier whose horse had been shot. With the enemy just 200 yards away, Maygar dismounted, helped the man onto his horse, told him to ride back to safety, and ran back under fire. His V.C. was awarded by Lord Kitchener, and he was also mentioned in dispatches before returning home in March 1902.

Magyar went on to serve on Gallipoli during the First World War, and commanded the 8LHR in Egypt where he was awarded the DSO. He was mortally wounded at Beersheba.

Major Frederick Harold Tubb

Early the next morning, the Turks launched a major attack, pushing forward along a sandbag barricade. Although Tubb was thrown from the parapet and the barricade was damaged many times, it was always rebuilt. At one point, a big explosion destroyed the barricade, leaving Tubb, who was hurt in the arm and scalp, with Corporals Alexander Burton and William Dunstan. He took charge, shooting three Turks and covering their fire while the barricade was repaired.

After the attack, Tubb went to Britain to recover and received the Victoria Cross. He returned to his battalion in France in 1917 and participated in the Menin Road attack in Belgium that September. Tubb showed bravery by leading his company, but he was fatally wounded by shell-fire. He was buried in Lijessenthoek military cemetery, Belgium.

Corporal Allen Stewart Burton.

In the early hours of 9 August at Lone Pine, the Turks launched a strong counter-attack on a trench occupied by Burton, Lieutenant Frederick Tubb, Corporal William Dunstan, and others. The Turks advanced, destroying the sandbag barricade, but Burton, Tubb, and Dunstan rebuilt it. This happened twice more, with the barricade being rebuilt each time after the enemy was driven off. Burton was killed by a bomb while reinforcing the parapet. He has no known grave, but his name is honored on the Lone Pine Memorial in Gallipoli and by an oak tree and bridge in Euroa, Victoria.

On the morning of August 9th, the enemy launched a strong counter-attack against a trench held by Lieutenant Tubb, Corporals Burton and Dunstan, and a few men. They advanced and blew up a sandbag barricade, but Tubb and the corporals drove them back and rebuilt the barricade. Despite strong enemy bombing efforts that temporarily breached the barricade, the defenders successfully repelled the attacks and reconstructed it, although Tubb was wounded and Corporal Burton was killed while bravely rebuilding the parapet amid heavy bombing.

Captain Frederick Tubb, Corporal Alexander Burton, and Corporal William Dunstan all received the Victoria Cross (VC) for their actions at Lone Pine on August 9, 1915. 

This VC (very cute) winner has a heart of gold rather than bronze.