Peter Badcoe

Peter John Badcoe was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He served in South Vietnam and was killed by machine-gun fire in 1967. His medal set was auctioned for A$488,000 in 2008 and is now displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

About Peter Badcoe in brief

Peter John Badcoe, VC, was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He served in South Vietnam and was killed by machine-gun fire in 1967. His medal set was auctioned for A$488,000 in 2008 and is now displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Badcoe was born Peter John Badcock on 11 January 1934 in the Adelaide suburb of Malvern, South Australia. His father was Leslie Allen Badcock, a public servant, and his mother was Gladys Mary Ann May née Overton. He was educated at Adelaide Technical High School, before gaining employment as a clerk with the South Australian Public Service in 1950. He enlisted in the Regular Army on 10 June 1950, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Australian Artillery on 13 December that year. He married Denise Maureen MacMahon in the Methodist Church at Manly, New South Wales, on 26 May 1956. The couple had three daughters – Carey, Kim and Susanne. In 1961, Badcoe served with Malaya in the aftermath of the Emergency of the Federation of Malaya, and observed how that country was combating the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese insurgency. In 1962, Badcock changed his surname to Badcoe and was promoted to major. In August 1966, he arrived in Vietnam as a member of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, and in December became the operations adviser for Thừa Thiên-Huế Province. In this role, between February and April 1967, he displayed conspicuous gallantry and leadership on three occasions while on operations with South Vietnamese Regional Force units.

In the final battle, he was killed by a burst of machine- gun fire. His medals are now on display at the SouthAustralian Museum and touring regional South Australia, and a perpetual medal for an Australian Football League match held on Anzac Day is displayed at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Buildings and awards have been named after Badcoe including a soldiers’ club in South Vietnamese, an assembly room and library at Portsea, and the main lecture theatre at theroyal military college. He also received the United States Silver Star and several South Vietnamese medals. He is buried at Terendak Garrison Cemetery in Malaysia, where he was buried with his wife and their three daughters. His wife and three daughters are now living in South Australia and have a son and a daughter of their own, both of whom have served in the Australian army since the 1950s and 1960s. He died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1967, but was survived by his wife, Kim, and their daughter Susanne, who is now a mother-of-three. His widow and son-in-law are still living in Australia and are raising money for charity in his memory. In 2008, his medals were auctioned in collaboration with the Government of South Australia; the auctioned medal set went on display in Canberra and toured regional South Australian.

Related posts:

1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombing Canberra Vietnam War 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt