Richard Charles Travis, (born Dickson Cornelius Savage; 6 April 1884 – 25 July 1918) was a New Zealand soldier who fought during the First World War and was posthumously decorated with the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Commonwealth forces. Born in Ōpōtiki, Travis worked as a farm hand and horse breaker and, as a young man, led a transient existence after leaving home at the age of 21. He volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War and served briefly at Gallipoli. He was later sent to France where he fought in the trenches along the Western Front, earning a reputation as scout and sniper and receiving awards for his gallantry. On 24 July 1918, he carried out a reconnaissance into "no man's land" prior to an attack by his battalion, destroying a wire obstacle that may have slowed progress for the advancing troops. During the attack itself, he made a solo foray to deal with two weapons pits that were delaying the advance. He was killed by shellfire the next day but his exploits of 24 July led to him being awarded the VC posthumously. Early life Dickson Cornelius Savage, as he was called originally, was born on 6 April 1884 in Ōpōtiki, New Zealand. His father, James Savage, a former member of the New Zealand Armed Constabulary, had migrated to New Zealand from Ireland and farmed a block of land at Otara, a short distance from Ōpōtiki. His mother, Frances (née O'Keefe), had originally come from Sydney, Australia. The oldest boy out of seven children, Dickson Savage attended schools at Ōpōtiki but only completed the first four years of his education before his family took him out of school to work on the farm. He acquired various farming skills, but showed a particular talent for horse breaking, for which he earned a degree of local fame. The impetuous Savage left home at age 21, after an argument with his father, and moved to Gisborne. He continued to work as a farmhand and further enhanced his reputation for horse breaking. Amid claims of impropriety with a local woman he moved on and, seeking a clean break, he changed his name to Richard Charles Travis. In 1910, he settled in Winton where he found work as a farmhand for