The following is an incomplete list of recipients of the Australian Star of Courage, awarded for acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril. Source:
Name Date Award ID Notes 5 867054 Confronted armed and dangerous person in hospital ward. 66 867081 (March 1993) 143 1146671 In the evening of 16 April 2011, Senior Constable Luke Anderton attended a two car accident at Clyde North, where he found some people trapped and one vehicle resting on its roof. He ran to the upturned vehicle and, smelling strong fumes, saw a man twisted and trapped inside the cabin. After advising bystanders to move away, Senior Constable Anderton crawled inside the cabin and elevated the man's head, despite leaking fuel falling onto his head and gas discharging from a cylinder into the vehicle. Although he was feeling dizzy and nauseous from the fumes, Senior Constable Anderton remained with the man for almost 40 minutes until he was cut free from the vehicle by emergency services. By his actions, Senior Constable Luke Alan Anderton displayed conspicuous courage. 38 867051 Attempted rescue of surfer swept against rocks in rough seas. 63 867079 On the afternoon of 6 July 1991 Scott Bailey, then aged 17, swam through dangerous seas at Cape Freycinet, Western Australia to assist a drowning fisherman. Scott, who was visiting Cape Freycinet with his father and brother, was one of several people in the vicinity when a fisherman fell eight metres from rocks into a heavy sea. Despite cold conditions, a strong current and large swell, Scott stripped, dived 10 metres into the sea, and swam for 15 minutes carrying a sealed bucket and hauling a rescue line. On reaching the unconscious fisherman, Scott spent some time attempting, unsuccessfully, to revive him and then commenced bringing him back to shore. During the return journey the rescue line parted and Scott twice had the fisherman pulled from his grip by rough waves. Scott's condition was reduced by these events and he was forced to abandon his attempt to bring the fisherman to the shore. Scott needed to be assisted from the water by family members and others participating in the rescue attempt from the shore. 31 867068 Attempted rescue of school boy at Rocky Point, Eagle Bay, Western Australia 87 867142 C of Aust Gazette No. S81. 12 March 1997 85 Boughton, Ian Maurice, itsanhonour.gov.au On 20 April 1995 Senior Constable Boughton put himself at danger to rescue a diver trapped inside an underwater inlet cooling pipe at the BHP Pumphouse at Port Waratah, Newcastle, New South Wales. The diver was making a routine inspection on the inlet pipe prior to fitting a filter when he was drawn in feet first. The above-water crew, seeing irregularities on the air hose equipment pulled on the security line which broke free from the diver, dislodging his face mask and allowed him to be sucked further into the pipe at great speed. Constable Boughton responded to a call for assistance and although he had no previous underwater diving experience entered the water in a rescue attempt, after first ensuring that the pumps had been switched off. He descended 5 metres below the surface of the water before he located the pipe, which was 1 metre in diameter but had been reduced considerably by the build up of crustacean growth and algae. Carrying a torch Constable Boughton entered the pipe and travelled 3 metres vertically to a bend where visibility was reduced to only centimetres. After moving around the bend and a few metres along the horizontal arm of the pipe he located the diver's hand. He tugged at the unconscious diver a number of times before he was able to pull him free and drag him back through the pipe to the open water where he was lifted from the water. 82 Rescue of children from burning cabin at Caravan Park, SuttoBoukouvalas, Constantinos , itsanhonour.gov.au 17 Assisted in rescue of passengers from crashed helicopterBowen, Wayne Thomas, 26 November 1982, itsanhonour.gov.au 6 At about 1 a.m. on 6 September 1978, Bowman, a Municipal Council employee, was driving along Canley Vale Road, Canley Vale, New South Wales, when he saw a house ablaze. Upon enquiring from bystanders he ascertained that two persons were trapped inside the fiercely burning building. Mr Bowman broke away some of the fibro wall sheeting, entered the house but was forced back by the smoke and heat. Although the portion of the building was well alight where the occupants were trapped, he entered the house again and reached the two persons – who were severely burned – and brought them one at a time to safety outside the building. By his conspicuous courage in which he placed himself in great peril Mr Bowman saved the lives of the two persons.BOWMAN, Robert James, 30 March 1979, itsanhonour.gov.au 89 Gaz S179 1997Boyle, Dominic, 9 April 1997, itsanhonour.gov.au 80 Rescue from shark at Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, New South WalesBrackenrig, Jeffery David, 12 October 1994, itsanhonour.gov.au 26 Rescued man from burning vehicle after accidentBradshaw, Paul, 31 January 1986, itsanhonour.gov.au 83 Rescue of man being stabbed by intoxicated man at Kings Cross, New South WalesBrassey, Spencer John, 5 April 1995, itsanhonour.gov.au 120 Breen, David Ashley, 21 February 2005, itsanhonour.gov.au On the afternoon of 21 November 2003, Mr Breen rescued a man from a burning vehicle after an accident at Mount Inkerman, Queensland. Mr Breen was driving north along the Bruce Highway when he noticed an approaching car drift onto the other side of the road, narrowly missing his own vehicle. The car careered across a concrete culvert toward a raised train carriageway before landing upside down on the tracks. Mr Breen saw the accident in his rear vision mirror and called 000 emergency. He then heard the female driver, who had escaped, scream that her husband was trapped in the overturned vehicle. Mr Breen rushed, bare foot, to help. As he approached the car, he noticed smoke coming from the engine bay and that the grass surrounding the car was alight. Mr Breen tried all the doors of the car but they were jammed shut. To free the man he climbed through the front passenger window and dragged him from the burning vehicle. Another person who had arrived on the scene helped Mr Breen move the man to safety. Within 30 seconds the car exploded. In quick succession it then exploded a second time. David lost his hat in the fire, which he also attempted to save. This was later retrieved by the couple, framed with the newspaper clipping of the accident and presented to David. By his actions, Mr Breen displayed conspicuous courage. 126 Brown, Michael Thomas, 27 February 2006, itsanhonour.gov.au 144 Burns, Trevor Ronald, 25 March 2013, itsanhonour.gov.au On 30 October 2010, Mr Burns rescued a woman from a shark attack north east of Garden Island, near Rockingham, Western Australia. The woman was a female dive guide with a group of about twelve tourists swimming with dolphins as part of a Rockingham Wild Encounters tour. As the woman was engaging dolphins to interact with the tourists she was suddenly and violently attacked by a three-metre shark. Mr Burns, who was snorkeling with other members of the tour group, saw the violent attack, and immediately grabbed the shark's tail in an attempt to pull it off her. As he held on, the shark began to thrash about, aggressively throwing Mr Burn around in the water. Soon after, the shark released its grip on the woman, and swam off. After hearing a warning alarm coming from the boat, all of the swimmers swam to the boat except for Mr Burns. Despite a large amount of blood in the water, and the whereabouts of the shark unknown, he dove down about four metres to the injured woman who was sinking below him. Mr Burns pulled her to the surface and swam a short distance to the boat where he lifted her onto the back landing amongst others who were trying to get out of the water. Mr Burns ensured everyone was safe before he left the water. The woman survived the attack but received significant injuries to her legs which required over 200 stitches and several operations. 42 9 August 1989 for assisting with the disarming of an armed man who had wounded and killed workers in an Australia Post building in Melbourne during the Queen Street massacre. 14 (Posthumous award). 6 May 1981. On 2 December 1979, Mr. Carter was asked to help contain a bush fire in the Mount White-Calga area, New South Wales. With 3 others they cut a fire break. A change of wind direction caused the fire to change direction making it necessary for all to... 140 On 7 February 2009, Ms Casey rescued her friend and colleague during the ‘Black Saturday bushfires' at Kinglake, Victoria. In the midst of the Black Saturday bushfires, Ms Casey, a member of the Country Fire Authority (CFA), assisted her friend to defend her house in Bald Spur Road, Kinglake from the firestorm. With safety considerations paramount, her friend asked Ms Casey to leave as the fire front approached. Ms Casey managed to return to the Kinglake CFA shed and remained until the fire front had passed. As darkness approached, Ms Casey became aware that her friend's situation had become dire, so decided to drive back to assist. She drove through the fire-stricken forest until she was unable to travel further due to the fallen and burning trees which had blocked Bald Spur Road. Using a torch, Ms Casey left the safety of her vehicle and walked about 600 metres along the road until she found her friend, badly injured and almost unconscious. In very difficult conditions, Ms Casey assisted her friend back to the vehicle and again negotiated fallen trees to return to the main road and back to the CFA shed. With no ambulances available, local police officers were able to transport the woman to Whittlesea to receive urgently needed medical attention. By her actions, Ms Casey displayed conspicuous courage. 102 Police Marine and Rescue Services, Tasmania Police 101 SC. Gaz S370. 23 Aug 99 76 Attempted rescue of woman who was being stabbed at Moranbah, Queensland 56 Rescue from armed offender at Wynnum West, Queensland 117 Corporal Clements was a crew member of a tank taking part in an Australian Army training exercise at the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Queensland. 113 77 24 41 For the attempted rescue of a windsurfer in heavy seas off Spoon Bay near Wamberal Beach, Central Coast, New South Wales. 132 On 29 July 2006, Mr Cook shielded an Australian passenger during a plane crash at St Louis, Missouri, United States of America. Whilst visiting and working in the US, a young Australian woman joined a group of people to make a tandem skydive. Her instructor was Mr Robert Cook with whom she would be harnessed for the skydive. Soon after take-off from an airport near St Louis, Missouri, the plane experienced serious engine malfunctions and the pilot attempted to return to the airstrip. Mr Cook, an experienced instructor, turned to the woman and calmly told her that the plane was likely to crash. Instructing her to focus solely on his instructions, Mr Cook clipped his skydive harness to hers, demanding that the woman wrap herself around him so that he could cushion her fall. As the aircraft lost altitude and crashed through a tree, the woman remembers being jostled around and slipping to the floor of the plane. Mr Cook pulled her back onto the seat and again pressed her against him. Moments later the plane hit an electrical wire and, as it plunged towards the ground, Mr Cook tightened his grip around the woman, acting as a human shield to protect her. Having entirely understood the implications of his actions, and as a result of his selfless courage, the woman, although seriously injured in the crash, survived the impact. Sadly Mr Cook died instantly as a result of his injuries. By his actions, Mr Cook displayed conspicuous bravery, thereby losing his life.Robert Cook, Bravery Council Honours List, 17 March 2008, www.gg.gov.au 30 Attempted to rescue man in ro