Private Reginald Inwood VC

Reginald Inwood, known as Roy, was the kind of WWI soldier who gave the Australian troops their reputation for fearlessness. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914 and served at Gallipoli. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during the allies’ attack at Polygon Wood in 1917.

Roy Inwood was born in Adelaide and schooled in Broken Hill.  He left behind his job in the Broken Hill mines when he stepped onto a train at Sulphide Street Station in August 1914, along with hundreds of other young recruits, many of them miners. The train pulled away to the jeers of some raucous socialists who actively opposed Australia’s involvement in the First World War. The impact of the war on Broken Hill was devastating. In 1914, the number of workmen employed on the mines fell by almost half in a few months.

Roy was assigned to the 10th Battalion and went to the Western Front after the ANZAC’s brave devastation at Gallipoli, where he fought October-November 1915. In 1917, during the Battle of Menin Road in Ypres, France, the 10th attacked a German camp. Roy Inwood volunteered for a dangerous night patrol, sending back crucial intelligence. He then led an attack, with the aid of one other soldier, on the German machine gun post, killing the crew of nine with a grenade and taking one survivor prisoner at gunpoint. He received his Victoria Cross for this action.

Roy Inwood returned to Broken Hill in 1918 and was given a hero’s welcome. He enlisted in WWII as a Warrant Officer but was discharged due to weak health. In between the wars and afterwards, like so many returned servicemen, he had trouble finding work. Even risking his life and receiving the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious military award, didn’t guarantee a future.

4000 volunteers from Broken Hill enlisted in WW1. 365 died in battle.

Broken Hill’s war hero was given a military burial when he died in 1971. He is honoured with a memorial sculpture in Argent Street, Broken Hill.

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