Military District. Later life and legacy Bassett returned to the National Military Reserve from which he retired in 1948. As a civilian, he resumed his banking profession. He retired in 1952 but remained active in the community of Devonport, on Auckland's North Shore, as a justice of the peace. In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. He died at Stanley Bay, in Auckland, on 9 January 1983, shortly after his 91st birthday; his ashes were buried at North Shore Memorial Park. He was survived by his wife Ruth and their two daughters. His VC, gifted to the RNZSigs upon his death, is displayed at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Several years earlier, Bassett had planted a pine tree, reportedly cultivated from a seedling taken from the area of the Battle of Lone Pine at Gallipoli, in front of the museum as part of an Anzac Day service. According to his daughter, Bassett rarely spoke about his achievements, and she did not learn of her father's award until she studied Gallipoli at primary school. He was modest and expressed embarrassment at being the only New Zealand VC recipient of the Gallipoli Campaign. He commented that "when I got my medal I was disappointed to find I was the only New Zealander to get one at Gallipoli, because hundreds of Victoria Crosses should have been awarded there." Bassett remains the only New Zealand signaller to have been awarded the VC and was a lifetime member of the Corps of Signals Association. In recognition of Bassett's rank at the time of his award, the Bassett Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding corporal in the RNZSigs. The trophy is a statue of Bassett on Chunuk Bair. An annual speech competition, run by the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association and sponsored by the ANZ Bank, formerly the National Bank, for secondary school students is named for him. The winner travels to Gallipoli to attend the ANZAC Day commemorations. Notes References 1892 births 1983 deaths New Zealand World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Gallipoli campaign recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Mount Eden New Zealand Army officers New Zealand military personnel of World War II Burials at North Shore Memorial Park New Zealand justices of the peace