| Notes |
- Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett (1892 - 1983) Banker, Soldi
Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 3
January 1892, the son of Frederick Charles Bassett, a printer, and his wife,
Harriet Adelle Powley. Cyril attended Grafton School, Auckland Grammar School
and the Auckland Technical College. In 1908 he was employed as a clerk at the
Newton branch of the National Bank of New Zealand. His first military service
was from 1909 to 1911 with the Auckland College Rifles Volunteers, and then
with the Auckland Divisional Signal Company from 1911 to 191
On 10 August 1914 Bassett was attested as a sapper in the New Zealand
Divisional Signal Company, at that time attached to the Corps of New Zealand
Engineers. He sailed with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 16 October
that year. Following........
Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett, New Zealand
Cyril Bassett was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 3 January 1892. He
enlisted in the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 10 August 1914 a
sailed for Egypt in October as a sapper in the Divisional Signals of the NZ
Engineers.
Bassett landed with the initial assault troops at Gallipo
April 1915 where he won the Victoria Cross on 7 August 1915 on a ridge known
as Chunuk Bair. His citation read, in part, as follows: " After the NZ Infantry
Brigade had attacked and established itself on the ridge, Corporal Bassett, in
full daylight and under a continuous and heavy fire, succeeded in laying a
telephone line from the old position to the new one on Chunuk Bair. He has
subsequently been brought to notice for further excellent and most gallant
work connected with the repair of telephone lines both by day and by night
under heavy fire." (London Gazette, 15 October 1915).
Bassett was evacuated from Gallipoli due to illness in late August
1915. He rejoined his unit in France in mid-1916 and was commissioned in
September 1917. He suffered wounds on two occasions, in October 1917 and again
in March 1918. He was returned to New Zealand in December 1918 and left the
service with the rank of Lieutenant. Following service with the Territorial
Service between the wars, he was appointed to serve again in 1940. He left the
Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in December 1943, when he held the position of
Commander Northern District Signals.
Cyril Bassett died in Auckland, New Zealand, on 9 January 1983 and was
cremated at the North Shore Cemetery.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1892 - 1983 (91 years)