and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) as a sapper in the Corps of New Zealand Engineers, assigned to the New Zealand Divisional Signal Company. Gallipoli Bassett embarked with the main body of the NZEF for the Middle East in October 1914. Initially based in Egypt, after a period of training, he landed at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915, the opening day of the Gallipoli Campaign. Along with the other signallers of his unit, he was immediately set to work laying communication lines to the headquarters of the New Zealand and Australian Division. In early May, he, along with two other signallers, was noted in consideration for a gallantry award for their efforts in laying telephone wires while under heavy fire. Later in the campaign, Bassett was promoted to corporal. In August 1915, a series of offensives against Turkish positions along the Gallipoli front was planned to break the stalemate that had developed since the initial landing. On 7August, the New Zealand Infantry Brigade attacked Chunuk Bair, a prominent hill overlooking the battlefield. The battle lasted for three days. Chunuk Bair was captured by the brigade's Wellington Infantry Battalion on the second day, during which Bassett, in command of a section of five other signallers of his unit, laid down and maintained telephone lines between brigade headquarters and the front lines. Working on the exposed slopes leading up to Chunuk Bair, he braved continuous gunfire during this time armed with only a revolver and a bayonet. A bullet struck his boot and two more passed through the fabric of his tunic during the fighting, but he was not wounded. After the battle, Basset's name, along with those of the other five signallers of his section, was collected by Major Arthur Temperley of brigade headquarters, who nominated Bassett to receive the Victoria Cross (VC). A few days later, Bassett was evacuated from Gallipoli due to poor health. Suffering from dysentery, he spent several months recuperating at a hospital in Leicester and it was here that he was advised of his VC award. Instituted in 1856, the VC is the highest gallantry award that can be bestowed on a soldier of the British Empire. The citation read: The citation incorrectly refers to Bassett's actions on 7August; it was not until the following day that the Wellington Infantry Battalion captured Chunuk Bair. His VC was the first to be awarded to