Jørgen Christian Jensen

Jørgen Christian Jensen (15 January 1891 – 31 May 1922) was a Danish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces.

Jørgen Christian Jensen was born on 15 January 1891 in Løgstør, Denmark, the son of Jørgen Christian Jensen and Christiane Sørensen, who was apparently also known as Jensen.

Sørensen was a single mother who worked in agriculture.

The younger Jensen's early life was difficult, but he was a good student, and entered the fishing industry.

In 1908, aged 17, he travelled to the United Kingdom before emigrating to Australia.

Jensen emigrated to Australia in 1909, becoming a British subject at Adelaide, South Australia, in 1914.

He sailed to Melbourne in March 1909, then moved to Morgan, South Australia, and later Port Pirie, working respectively as a sailor on river steamers on the Murray River, and as a labourer.

He was naturalised as a British subject in Adelaide on 7 September 1914.

A sailor and labourer before World War I, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in March 1915, serving with the 10th Battalion during the latter stages of the Gallipoli campaign.

On 23 March 1915, Jensen enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for service in World War I; he was allotted to the 6th reinforcements to the 10th Battalion.

His reinforcement draft embarked on HMAT Borda at Outer Harbor on 23 June, and joined the battalion at Gallipoli, Turkey, on 4 August.

By the time Jensen arrived, nearly half of the battalion had been evacuated sick with dysentery.

After the Australian force withdrew to Egypt, Jensen was transferred to the newly formed 50th Battalion, and sailed for France with the unit in June 1916.

In April 1916, Jensen and several other 10th Battalion men were transferred to the 50th Battalion; later that month Jensen was charged for not being in his tent at tattoo.

On 5 June the battalion embarked for France, arriving in Marseilles six days later.

The unit then entrained for the Western Front, entering the trenches for the first time on 28 June near Fleurbaix.

The 50th Battalion saw its first serious action during the Battle of Mouquet Farm in mid-August 1916.

On the Western Front, he was wounded during the battalion's first serious action, the Battle of Mouquet Farm in August, and only returned to his unit in late January 1917.

On 2 April, his battalion attacked the Hindenburg Outpost Line at Noreuil, where his actions leading to the capture of over fifty German soldiers resulted in the award of the Victoria Cross.

In June 1917, the 50th Battalion was involved in the Battle of Messines; the following month, Jensen, now a corporal, was posted to a training unit in the United Kingdom.

He returned to his battalion in October, and was promoted to temporary sergeant in November.

He did not rejoin his unit until 28 January 1917.

In March 1918, the German spring offensive was launched, and Jensen fought with his battalion at Dernancourt and Villers-Bretonneux.

Shortly after the fighting at Villers-Bretonneux, Jensen was on patrol when he received a severe head wound, and was evacuated to the United Kingdom, then repatriated to Australia, where he was discharged in Adelaide at the end of the war.

He worked as a marine store dealer and married in 1921, but died the following year, having never fully recovered from his war wounds.

While in Egypt, the battalion was split into two, one half forming the nucleus of the new 50th Battalion, which was part of the 13th Brigade, 4th Division.

During the battle, the 50th Battalion suffered 414 casualties, largely from the heavy German artillery bombardment.

On 14 August, Jensen was hit in the left shoulder by a piece of shrapnel.

He was evacuated to the UK and admitted to Graylingwell War Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.

While in the UK, he was charged with more disciplinary infractions in September, December and January, on one occasion being sentenced to 28 days field punishment for missing the troop train to return to France, and on another serving 12 days detention for being absent without leave.

The 50th Battalion continued to rotate through front line, support and reserve positions, and underwent training in rear areas.

The battalion was also involved in pursuing the Germans as they withdrew to the Hindenburg Line of fortifications.

During this assault, which was preceded by a weak artillery barrage, the 50th Battalion suffered extraordinary difficulties, and the centre company, to which Jensen belonged, was forced to detach a party of men equipped with a large number of hand grenades (then known as bombs) to deal with a strongly barricaded German post that was holding out between their company and the one on their right.

Jensen was a member of this party.

His actions during the reduction of this post resulted in a recommendation for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at that time.

The attack consisted of the 51st Battalion attacking the village from the north, and the 50th Battalion from the south.

For the remainder of the Gallipoli campaign, the 10th Battalion rotated through various positions in the line defending the beachhead until withdrawn to Lemnos in November.

Jensen remained with his unit throughout, except for a week in September–October that he spent in hospital.

The battalion embarked for Egypt in late November and spent the next four months training and assisting in the defence of the Suez Canal.

On 2 April, the 13th Brigade attacked the Hindenburg Outpost Line at Noreuil.