Captain James Rogers VC Memorial - Heywood Victoria - Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com

James Rogers received the Victoria Cross as a Sergeant of the South African Constabulary (SAC).
He was a member of the first Victorian contingent to South Africa and returned to South Africa in 1902 as an officer of the Australian Commonwealth Horse. In the 1914-1918 War as an officer with the AIF he would see further service where he would be wounded with the Light Horse on Gallipoli.

James Rogers was born on 4 July 1873, at Woodside Farm, Moama which is on the New South Wales side of the Murray River just opposite the Victorian town of Echuca.
In 1886 his family moved to Heywood in the western district of Victoria, where he later worked on his father's farm and joined the local company of the VMR. In 1899 he was 6 ft. 2 in tall, 12 stone and a superb horseman, tough bushman and crack rifle shot.

When the South African War broke out Rogers enlisted as a private with the 1st Victorian Mounted Infantry Company on 16 October 1899. He disembarked with his unit at Cape Town in November 1899. On 1 May 1900 Rogers was seconded as a corporal to the Provincial Mounted Police, Orange River Colony. When the 1st Victorian Contingent returned to Australia in November he took his discharge in
South Africa and joined the newly formed SAC as a sergeant.

On 15 June 1901 Rogers was serving with No. 6 Troop SAC, commanded by Lieutenant Frank Dickinson. The troop joined a 200-man column of the Royal Irish Rifles which patrolled from Thaba `Nchu to Tabaksberg in search of Boer forces. On the return march, about ten miles north of Hout Nek, the column came under Boer sniper fire. Dickinson with six men, including Rogers, waited in ambush at a kraal while the column returned to camp. They surprised the Boers and then Dickinson withdrew his men to rejoin the column. About two miles from the column about sixty Boers tried to cut the group off. When Dickinson's horse was shot, Rogers despite heavy enemy fire rode back, pulled him up behind him on his horse and carried him out of danger. Rogers returned twice more to rescue two men who had let go of their horses when they had dismounted to fire. He then caught and led back to the firing line two horses, which had escaped from other men.

Rogers returned to Australia late in 1901 and Dickinson recommended that his gallantry be recognised Rogers was awarded the Victoria Cross on 18 April 1902 having previously been mentioned in dispatches.

A month later he again left for South Africa as a lieutenant with the 6th Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse. However, the war had ended and the battalion returned home.

Rogers tried to obtain a commission in the Australian Military Forces but was unsuccessful. He returned to South Africa where he served with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Cape Police until February 1904.

On 25 April 1907, describing himself as a mounted trooper, Roger married Ethel Maud Seldon at Portland, Victoria and they had two sons. By 1912 Rogers was a marker at Williamstown rifle range and by the outbreak of World War I he was a range assistant. On 6 December 1914 he was commissioned in the 3rd Light Horse Brigade Train, Australian Army Service Corps, Australian Imperial Force. He was seriously wounded at Gallipoli on 4 August 1915 and evacuated to Egypt. He then served with the Anzac Provost Corps before returning to Australia on 18 July 1916. His AIF appointment ended on 31 December 1916 but Rogers remained in the Army performing home service duties until the end of the war.

Rogers resumed work at Williamstown as a range assistant, then in 1921 became an assistant storeman, Ordnance Branch, AMF, Victoria. He resigned in 1922 and resumed farming. He retired to Kew in Melbourne in the 1920's where resided with his wife until her death in 1958. In 1956 Rogers and his wife attended the Victoria Cross Centenary Celebrations in London with the Australian contingent. He lived the remainder of his life with his surviving son at Roseville, Sydney. He died in Concord Repatriation Hospital on 28 October 1961, and was cremated with military honours in Melbourne. His name is commemorated on a memorial cairn at Heywood. His Victoria Cross is on permanent display in the Hall of Valour, Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/12/2019 Whitepaws9 visited it