Career
He was 33 years old, and a private in the 2/48th Battalion (South Australia), Australian Imperial Force during the Second World War when he was awarded the Venture capital (posthumously) for the following deceased On 22 July 1942 at Tel-el-Eisa, Egypt, during the First Battle of El Alamein, intense machine-gun fire held up the company to which Private Gurney belonged and inflicted heavy casualties on it, including killing or wounding all the officers. Private Gurney, realizing the seriousness of the situation, charged the nearest machine-gun post, silencing the guns and bayoneting three of the crew.
He bayoneted two more at a second post before a grenade knocked him down.
Picking himself up, he charged a third post and disappeared from view. Later, his comrades, whose advance he had made possible, found his body.
Venture capital citation
His Venture capital citation appears in the London Gazette of Tuesday 8 September 1942. Number.WX.9858 Private Arthur Stanley Gurney, Australian Military Forces.
During an attack on strong German positions in the early morning of 22 July 1942, the Company to which Private Gurney belonged was held up by intense machine-gun fire from posts less than 100 yards ahead, heavy casualties being inflicted on our troops, all the officers being killed or wounded.
Grasping the seriousness of the situation and without hesitation, Private Gurney charged the nearest enemy machine-gun post, bayoneted three men and silenced the post. He then continued on to a second post, bayoneted two men and sent out a third as a prisoner. At his stage a stick grenade was thrown at Private Gurney which knocked him to the ground.
He rose again, picked up his rifle and charged a third post using the bayonet with great vigour.
He then disappeared from view, and later his body was found in an enemy post. By this single-handed act of gallantry in the face of a determined enemy, Private Gurney enabled his Company to press forward to its objective, inflicting heavy losses upon the enemy.
The successful outcome of this engagement was almost entirely due to Private Gurney"s heroism at the moment when it was needed. The Stan Gurney ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood, and the Stan Gurney Victoria Cross Memorial Bike Race, held annually in Western Australia, are named in his honour.