Bruce Kingsbury

Bruce Kingsbury

Private Bruce Kingsbury was born in Armadale, Melbourne in the year 1918. He was twenty-four years old when he was killed. He was killed on the Kokoda Track on the 29th of August 1942. He is buried at a war cemetary in Port Moresby, Papa New Guinea.

Bruce Kingsbury was ranked as a Private in the Army the lowest rank. But the Private won Australia's highest military award a V.C[Victoria Cross] at the age of twenty-four. Kingsbury enlisted in the AIF in 1940. He served in Egypt and Syria, then returned to Australia with the Seventh Division in March 1942. He was posted to the 2/14th in June.

Fighting on the Kokoda Trail, were 14 000 Japanese against 400 Australians. The Kokoda Trail is One-Hundred and Sixty Kilometres long and One Metre wide. Australian forces were outnumbered five to one.The Diggers defence was broken, Australians were fighting a far superior enemy to them, who were experts at jungle warfare.

The battle Private Kingsbury died in, was in August 1942. He volunteered to join a counter attack. Private Bruce Kingsbury, while somewhere on the Kokoda Trail, rushed forward firing his Bren Gun mowing down Japanes troops. Kingsbury caused enough casualties[that is Japanese casualties] to push them back. The Diggers regained their position but deep in the battle he was killed by a Japanese sniper.

I class Bruce Kingsbury as my hero because he died for his country. He died fighting a superior enemy and fighting outnumbered. He ran forward firing a machine gun (magazines on a machine gun only last about three seconds) firing non-stop. He had courage in the hardest of times so this is why I class Private Bruce Kingsbury as one of my heroes.