THE VICTORIA CROSS, DECORATIONS AND CAMPAIGN MEDALS AWARDED TO WARRANT OFFICER II KEITH PAYNE HAVE BEEN SOLD TO THE MARYBOROUGH MUSEUM IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. |
---|
18 June 2007 |
It has been revealed that Warrant Officer II Keith Payne has sold his Victoria Cross and campaign medals to the Maryborough Military & Colonial Museum in Queensland for an undisclosed sum to provide for his family - Flo, his wife, five sons, fourteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The reason for selling his VC to the Maryborough Museum was because Keith Payne was determined his Victoria Cross would stay in Queensland. "It was a hard call to make but I felt the time was right" and "I wanted my family to benefit from the VC while I still could" he said. It was an approach from retired businessman John Meyers, owner and curator of the Maryborough Museum, which convinced Keith Payne to sell his Victoria Cross. A former long-time member of the Army Reserve, John Meyers started the museum, which is a labour of love, after selling his shares in a sawmill and hardware business. For the award of the Victoria Cross: [ London Gazette, 19 September 1969 ], Ben Het, Kontum Province, Vietnam, 24 May 1969, Warrant Officer II Keith Payne, Australian Army Training Team, Vietnam.
On 24 May 1969, in Kontum Province, Warrant Officer Payne was commanding 212th Company of 1st Mobile Strike Force Battalion when the Battalion was attacked by a North Vietnamese force of superior strength.
Keith Payne was invested with his Victoria Cross by Queen Elizabeth II on the Royal Yacht Britannia in Brisbane on the 13th April 1970.
The medal entitlement of Warrant Officer II Keith Payne - Australian Army Training Team, Vietnam |
Iain Stewart, 20 June 2007