a soldier of the NZEF and he was the only one to receive it for actions during the Gallipoli Campaign. King George V presented him the VC at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace on 3February 1916. Bassett later remarked of the VC action, "I reckon there must be some guardian angel looking after me, especially as one man was shot dead in front of me and another wounded just behind." Western Front In June 1916, Bassett rejoined his unit, by then on the Western Front in France as part of the New Zealand Division. Later that year, he participated in the Battle of the Somme, and in 1917 was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was wounded twice while on the Western Front; the first occasion was in October 1917, and the second was during the German spring offensive in March 1918, when an artillery barrage destroyed the headquarters of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, where he was the signals officer. The same barrage killed the brigade's commander, Brigadier-General Harry Fulton. On extracting himself from the rubble of the headquarters, Bassett immediately set about reestablishing communications for which he was recommended for, but was not awarded, the Military Cross. He returned to New Zealand in late 1918 as the New Zealand Division started demobilising and was formally discharged from the NZEF in 1919. Interwar period and Second World War Bassett returned to his banking career after the war, managing branches of the National Bank in Auckland and later in Paeroa. He retained a link to the military, rejoining the Territorial Force shortly after his discharge from the NZEF but was placed on the retired list of officers in 1929. Three years previously, he had married Ruth Louise Grant; the couple had two children. By 1939 he was the manager of the Auckland Town Hall branch of the National Bank. Called up for the National Military Reserve as a result of the outbreak of the Second World War, Bassett was placed on active duty in 1941 as a captain in the Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals (RNZSigs). He was not required to serve overseas and instead he worked in signals on the Home Front in New Zealand. Promoted to major in February 1942, his active war service ended in December 1943. By then he had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was commander of signals in the Northern