Cyril Bassett (1892–1983) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth's highest combat award for gallantry at the time. He was the only soldier serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War to receive this award. Born in Auckland, Bassett was a bank worker when the First World War began. Posted to the New Zealand Divisional Signal Company of the Territorial Force as a sapper, he saw action on the opening day of the Gallipoli campaign. It was during the Battle of Chunuk Bair in August 1915 that he performed the actions that led to his award. Medically evacuated due to sickness shortly after the battle, he later served on the Western Front and finished the war as a second lieutenant. Recalled to active duty during the Second World War, he served in the Home Guard as a commander of signals in the Northern Military District, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Bassett
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1576:
The cornerstone of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's observatory Uraniborg was laid on the island of Hven. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraniborg
1929:
The German airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin embarked on a flight to circumnavigate the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin
1956:
A mining disaster killed 262 workers, mainly Italian nationals, at the Bois du Cazier coal mine in Belgium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_du_Cazier
2010:
A massive mudslide in Zhouqu County in the Chinese province of Gansu killed at least 1,471 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Gansu_mudslide
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sidle: 1. (transitive, intransitive, also figuratively) To (cause something to) move sideways. 2. (transitive, intransitive, also figuratively) In the intransitive sense often followed by up: to (cause something to) advance in a coy, furtive, or unobtrusive manner. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sidle
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am the pool of gold When sunset burns and dies,— You are my deepening skies, Give me your stars to hold. --Sara Teasdale https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sara_Teasdale
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