Heroes of the Victoria Cross - KEITH PAYNE

Under monsoon conditions in the Central Vietnamese Highlands, this Australian soldier ignored his injuries to hold back a communist attack and ensure that no man was left behind

- LOUIS HARDIMAN

Warrant Officer Keith Payne strode towards the commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam's (AATTV) office. Raising a right arm scarred by shrapnel injuries sustained four months earlier, he knocked on the door. Payne bristled as the voice from within shouted out: "Come." Standing to attention before the lieutenant, he was stunned to hear: "Allow me to be the first to congratulate you. The Queen has awarded you the Victoria Cross." "Oh, shit," Payne muttered under his breath as the lieutenant reached forward to shake his hand.

Payne was not the first in his family to have a distinguished military career. His father was absent for much of the Second World War, posted to the Pacific theatre. Just six years old when the war broke out, Payne had to grow up quickly and helped keep his family fed using the hunting and fishing skills taught by his father. Payne left school at 14 and, bored by his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker, enlisted in the Australian Army at 18.

A year later he had his first taste of combat, serving in the Korean War. Returning in 1953, he met and married Florence 'Flo' Plaw, a member of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps. Payne held operational duties while he started his family, before serving in Malaya (1965), Papua New Guinea (1967) and