Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett, VC (3 January 18929 January 1983) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded to British and Empire forces at the time. He was the only soldier serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) to be awarded the VC in the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War. Born in Auckland, Bassett was a bank worker when the First World War began. A member of New Zealand's Territorial Force, he volunteered for service abroad with NZEF and was posted to the New Zealand Divisional Signal Company as a sapper. He saw action on the opening day of the Gallipoli Campaign, and during the Battle of Chunuk Bair he performed the actions that led to his award of the VC. Medically evacuated due to sickness shortly after the battle, he later served on the Western Front and finished the war as a second lieutenant. Bassett returned to the banking profession but was recalled to active duty during the Second World War. He served on the Home Front and by the time he was taken off active duty in December 1943, he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was commander of signals in the Northern Military District. When he retired from his banking career he became a justice of the peace in Devonport. He died in 1983 at the age of 91. Early life Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett was born on 3January 1892 in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden, to a printer, Frederick Bassett, and his wife Harriet, Powley. Bassett attended Auckland Grammar School and then Auckland Technical College. After completing his formal education in 1908, he worked as a clerk for the National Bank of New Zealand. In 1909, he joined what later became the Territorial Force, the part-time military reserve, and was posted to the Auckland College Rifles. Two years later he transferred to the Auckland Divisional Signal Company. First World War When the First World War broke out, it was Bassett's intention to join the Royal Navy, but his mother, whose family had a history of service in the British Army, convinced him to enlist in the New Zealand Military Forces. Bassett was not particularly tall and was initially rejected on the grounds of height. He persisted with his attempt to enlist,