BRUCE, William James Joseph, Sergeant (5/1534),
2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 1953

On the night of 6/7 June, Sergeant Bruce was in charge of a reconnaissance patrol which was part of a larger fighting ambush patrol led by an officer. The ambush patrol had been given the initial task of occupying 'The Mound', a feature forward of Point 159. At 10.30 p.m., the patrol was moving into its position when it was ambushed at close quarters by an enemy force, later estimated to be thirty strong. During this clash all members of the leading group of the patrol were wounded, including the patrol leader, while the main body suffered further casualties. On the loss of his officer, Sergeant Bruce immediately took command and quickly reorganised the patrol. Through his quick and skilful leadership he extricated the patrol from the ambush and moved it, taking the casualties with him, to a position some fifty yards away where he formed a defensive perimeter. Shortly after this initial contact the enemy moved along the spur and again attacked the patrol. However, due to the volume and accuracy of the fire controlled by Sergeant Bruce, the enemy was unable to penetrate the patrol and was forced to withdraw after a fierce firefight. During this action at least six enemy soldiers were killed and two wounded. Having withdrawn, the enemy continued to fire on the party on The Mound, but the patrol under Sergeant Bruce remained firmly in command of the situation until a stand-by patrol from the main defences reached the area. Sergeant Bruce then arranged the evacuation of the six wounded and remained with the patrol, organising an exhaustive search for the body of a missing member, not returning to his own lines until after first light. The courage, determination and initiative displayed by Sergeant Bruce throughout the action were outstanding. His calm control of the situation after his officer had been wounded provided a splendid example to the rest of the patrol, and it was entirely due to his cool leadership that the six wounded members of the patrol were successfully evacuated.

CAMERON, Donald George, Private (Temporary Corporal) (5/1461),
3rdBattalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 1951

On 5 November 1951 a composite platoon of 10 and 12 platoons, D Company, 3 RAR, launched a counter-attack on a feature east of Point 317 which the enemy had captured the previous night. Corporal Cameron was acting section leader of 3 Section, 10 Platoon, the right forward attacking section. While attempting to cross a gap in the double apron fence, the section came under concentrated machine- gun fire which pinned the men to the ground, halting the advance. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Corporal Cameron went forward and, using his own grenades and directing the section's small arms fire, neutralised the enemy's machine-gun fire thus allowing the accompanying two sections to advance. When ordered by his platoon commander to clear an enemy bunker from which grenades and small arms fire were coming, Corporal Cameron personally moved forward to do