Private Robert Matthew Beatham VC
2742 1st Australian Army
Family moved to Burnley in the early 1900's
Killed in Action 11th August 1918
Buried in Heath Cemetery, France

2742 Private (Pte) Robert Matthew Beatham VC, 8th Battalion. Pte Beatham was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for "most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice" on 9 August 1918 at Rosieres, France.
During the hold up of an advance, Pte Beatham dashed forward and, assisted by a fellow soldier, bombed and fought the crews of four enemy machine guns being wounded in the process, enabling the advance to go forward.
Once the final objective had been reached, he again dashed forward to bomb an enemy machine gun, being killed as he did so.