Reginald Stanley Judson, (29 September 1881 – 26 August 1972) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" given to British and Commonwealth forces. He was awarded the VC for his actions in the Second Battle of Bapaume during the First World War. Born in Wharehine, Judson was a boiler maker when he enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force for service in the First World War. He was severely wounded in September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. After two years of medical treatment and recovery, he returned to active duty in France in June 1918. Prior to the Second Battle of Bapaume, he had already received the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal, with all three medals being earned in a four-week period between July and August 1918. After the war he joined the New Zealand Staff Corps as a commissioned officer. He retired in 1937 and performed secretarial work as well as becoming involved in local body politics. He returned to the military during the Second World War and served on the home front. After retiring from the military for a second time in 1946, he took up farming at Mangonui in Northland. He died in Auckland in 1972, at the age of 90. Early life Reginald Stanley Judson was born into a farming family at Wharehine, north of Auckland, in New Zealand, on 29 September 1881, the son of Emma Frances Judson ( Holmden) and Edgar William Judson. After being educated at Port Albert and completing a mechanical engineering apprenticeship, he worked as a boilermaker and engineer in Auckland, living in the suburb of Ponsonby. In 1905 he married Ethel Grice and the union resulted in four children. First World War Judson enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in October 1915 and embarked for the Middle East in January 1916 as a reinforcement with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. In February, shortly after arriving in Egypt where the New Zealand Division was in the process of being formed, he was transferred to 1st Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment. Two months later, the division was transferred to the Western Front. Promoted to corporal, he participated in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September 1916, where he was seriously wounded. He was evacuated to England and spent several months recovering from his