George Ingram

Who was George Ingram?

George Morby Ingram VC, MM was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Ingram became Australia's final recipient of the Victoria Cross during the First World War following his actions during an attack on the village of Montbrehain in France. Leading a platoon during the engagement, he instigated several charges against a number of German strong points that eventuated in the seizure of ten machine guns and sixty-two prisoners, as well as inflicting high casualties.

Born in the Victorian town of Bendigo, Ingram was apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner upon leaving school. Joining the militia at the age of fourteen, he later settled in Melbourne where he worked as a building contractor. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Ingram enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force and served on New Guinea before receiving his discharge in early 1916. Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on the same day, he embarked for the Western Front.