Jørgen Jensen (VC)
- For the Danish long-distance runner see Jørgen Jensen (athlete)
| Jørgen Christian Jensen | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 15 January 1891 Løgstør, Denmark |
| Died | 31 May 1922 (aged 31) Adelaide, South Australia |
| Buried at | West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide |
| Allegiance |  Commonwealth of Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Imperial Force |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | 50th Battalion |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Jørgen Christian Jensen VC (15 January 1891 – 31 May 1922 (aged 31)) was a Danish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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[edit] Early life
Jensen was born in Løgstør, Denmark, the third of four children. In 1908, he moved to England before he emigrated to Australia in March 1909 and worked in Australia for the next five years. A month after the war commenced, he was naturalised a British subject at Adelaide, South Australia, on 7 September 1914.
[edit] Military career
Jensen served in the Australian Military Forces between 1915 and 1918.[1]
When he was 26 years old and a private in the 50th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 2 April 1917 at Noreuil, France, Private Jensen, with five comrades, attacked a barricade behind which were about 45 of the enemy and a machine-gun. One of the party shot the gunner and Private Jensen rushed the post and threw in a bomb. Then, with a bomb in each hand, he threatened the rest and made them surrender. He sent one of his prisoners to another group of the enemy, ordering them to surrender, which they did, but our troops began firing on them, where-upon Private Jensen, regardless of danger stood on the barricade waving his helmet, and the firing stopped. He then sent his prisoners back to our lines.
[edit] Post-War
Upon returning to Australia he worked at the Truro Hotel in Truro, South Australia, where he met Katy Herman, a married women who was managing the hotel. Katy later divorced her husband, Joseph Louis Herman, and married Jensen. Katy had two daughters from her previous marriage, Lois Kathleen and Elsa Audrey.
Jensen worked as a marine store dealer in the inner city of Adelaide, South Australia. He died in Adelaide in 1922 and is buried in the AIF section of the West Terrace Cemetery. His body was carried on a horse-drawn gun carriage down Sturt Street to the cemetery.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Australian War Memorial. In Løgstør, Denmark, there is a statue erected in his memory in a park.
[edit] Notes
- ^ He became a British subject in 1914 because there was no Australian Citizenship Act until 1949.
[edit] External links
- H. J. Zwillenberg, 'Jensen, Joergen Christian (1891–1922)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 482–483.
- Jørgen Jensen at Find-A-Grave
