Date of action: 30 Sep 1918 (Crèvecoeur, France); Date of award: 15 Nov 1918 Private James Crichton, 2nd Battalion, Auckland Regiment, won his VC crossing the Scheldt River near the village of Crèvecoeur on 30 September 1918. Having rushed across an old stone bridge into the outskirts of the village, his platoon found themselves cut off and under heavy fire. Crichton, who was wounded in the foot, volunteered to take a message back to headquarters, swimming across the river and crossing open ground to do so. Rejoining his platoon, he defused an enemy mine attached to the bridge, before making another dash back to company headquarters to let them know the bridge was safe. Read more