Charles Groves Wright Anderson
Charles Groves Wright Anderson (12 February 1897 – 11 November 1988) was a South African-born Australian soldier, farmer and politician. Born in Cape Town to Scottish parents, his family moved to Kenya when he was young. He served as an officer in World War I with the King's African Rifles in East Africa and earned the Military Cross for bravery.
After the war he lived as a farmer in Kenya and married Edith Tout in 1931. In 1933 they moved to Australia and bought a grazing property near Young, New South Wales. When World War II began, he joined the army again and soon led the 2/19th Infantry Battalion in Malaya. In January 1942, during the battles around Muar and Parit Sulong, he showed extraordinary leadership and courage, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British and Commonwealth decoration for bravery.
After Singapore fell, he was captured and spent about three years as a prisoner of war, including forced labor on the Burma Railway. He was released at the end of the war and returned to Australia.
In politics, Anderson represented the Division of Hume in the Australian House of Representatives as a Country Party member. He served from 1949 to 1951, was defeated, then returned from 1955 to 1961 before retiring. He died in Canberra in 1988 at the age of 91.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Australian War Memorial. He also received the Coronation Medal in 1953 and the Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:12 (CET).