to the 2nd Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment, during the early stages of the Hundred Days Offensive. He was on probation for a commission in his unit and his attachment to the battalion was to gain front-line experience. On 24 August 1918, during the Second Battle of Bapaume, the battalion was ordered to capture of the village of Grévillers. On reaching the outskirts of the village, German machine gun fire prevented any further forward movement. Forsyth, scouting ahead of his platoon, made contact with two British tanks and despite being exposed to the German machine guns, guided them in, providing covering fire for the New Zealanders. One tank was soon crippled by artillery fire. Despite having been wounded in the arm, he assisted its crew to evacuate the tank and then organised them, along with several other soldiers, into a flanking party to attack the machine gun nest holding up the advance. The Germans shortly withdrew and the advance was able to continue. Forsyth set about organising defensive positions but was fatally shot by a sniper. Forsyth's actions were instrumental in the capture of Grévillers and it was for this that he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on a soldier of the British Empire. The citation for Forsyth's VC read: Forsyth is one of 70 New Zealanders buried at Adanac Military Cemetery, near Miraumont in France. His name is on a memorial headstone erected by his mother Grace Forsyth at Karori Cemetery in Wellington. In the same city, a memorial tablet was erected in his honour at the premises of the Sailor's Friend Society. There is also a plaque to him in Queens Gardens in Dunedin. Medal King George V presented Forsyth's wife, Mary, with the VC in a ceremony that took place in late November 1918 at Buckingham Palace. Following her death and having never had children, Forsyth's medals, which included not only the VC but also the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, and the Victory Medal, were inherited by a nephew. They were sold in 1982 to a collector in Melbourne, Australia. The medals were purchased by Lord Ashcroft in 1992 and are on display in the Imperial War Museum. Notes References New Zealand World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross 1891 births 1918 deaths New Zealand military personnel killed in