Shout was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions at Lone Pine in August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War.

After Ottoman forces had counterattacked and seized a large stretch of the Australians' front line, Shout gathered a small party of men and charged down one trench throwing bombs.

In August 1914, he joined in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) for active service overseas and was appointed a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion.

[Note 1] He was the eldest of nine children to an English-born father, John Richard Shout, and Irish mother, Agnes Mary (née Kelly, formerly McGovern).

[1][2][3] Information on Alfred Shout's early life is rather scant and the details differ between sources,[4] but according to his First World War attestation form he was privately educated.

The brothers sought to join one of the colonial contingents then engaged in the Second Boer War; Alfred enlisted in the newly raised Border Horse on 17 February 1900, while William (using the surname Shout) found a place in Bethune's Mounted Infantry.

At one point during the engagement, he ventured out under heavy rifle fire to retrieve a wounded man, and brought him back to a covered position; Shout's bravery in this action earned him a mention in despatches.

[1][4][10] While living in Cape Town, Shout married Rose Alice Howe, an Australian from Sydney, in 1905; the couple had a daughter named Florence in June that year.

[1][4] Following the outbreak of the First World War, Shout applied for a commission in the newly raised Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 18 August 1914.

[5][4] According to his medical assessment at the time, Shout stood at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), weighed 12 stone (170 lb; 76 kg), and was recorded as having "good" eyesight.

[1][7] As part of an endeavour to defeat the Ottoman Empire and force a supply route through to Russia via the Bosporus and the Black Sea, the British War Council formulated a plan to invade the Gallipoli Peninsula.

[21][23] Arriving at the position around 11:00,[23] he led a party to hold the rear left flank of the hill as part of the Australians' rearguard action.

[4][24] The Australian position on Baby 700 had become dire by that afternoon, a situation compounded by the small number of available infantry in the area and the complete lack of artillery support, when the Turkish forces launched a counter-assault.

[10][25] During his retreat, Shout encountered Lieutenant Colonel George Braund, commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, on Walker's Ridge.

Shout duly relayed the message, and was immediately tasked with leading 200 stray men to reinforce the thin defensive line near Braund's position.

[4][29] As the Turks occupied positions in the scrub just beyond the Australians' trench, Shout and his men were subjected to accurate and heavy rifle fire throughout the day.

[4][22] Cited for his "conspicuous courage and ability" at Walker's Ridge, Shout was awarded the Military Cross,[31] becoming the first member of his battalion to receive the decoration.

[36][37] Despite the initial success, Australian casualties had been heavy and the 1st Battalion was ordered forward in preparation for the expected Turkish counter-attack.

His party soon discovered a group of Turks focused on, and firing in, a different direction; Sasse and his men killed 12 and forced the remainder to flee.

[41][43][Note 3] Sasse, described by official historian Charles Bean as "elated" by the achievement that morning, approached Shout with a proposal to repeat the feat.

[41] While Sasse fired his revolver and Shout lobbed bombs, the Australian party advanced in short stages along the trench and built a barricade each time they halted.

[42][45] Despite the severity of his wounds Shout remained conscious and was dragged out of the firing line, where, "still cheerful" according to Bean,[41] he "drank tea and sent a message to his wife".

[1] Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Bennett, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, labelled Shout's actions at Lone Pine as "brilliant" and described him as "unapproachable in his splendid leadership".

[42][44][Note 4] Shout's VC was the seventh and final awarded to the AIF for the operations around Lone Pine, and the second to a member of the 1st Battalion.

On the morning of the 9th August, 1915, with a very small party Captain Shout charged down trenches strongly occupied by the enemy, and personally threw four bombs among them, killing eight and routing the remainder.

In the afternoon of the same day, from the position gained in the morning, he captured a further length of trench under similar conditions, and continued personally to bomb the enemy at close range under very heavy fire until he was severely wounded, losing his right hand and left eye.

[1][42] In 1916, to honour "the heroic and glorious deeds and death" of Shout and relieve the financial strain placed upon his wife, a collection was taken up by local citizens in Sydney to provide Rose and their daughter with a house.

The medals were auctioned by the Sydney firm Bonhams & Goodman on 24 July 2006, and realised a world record hammer price of AU$1 million.

[53] Shout's medals were purchased by media mogul Kerry Stokes, who subsequently donated the set to the Australian War Memorial for display in the Hall of Valour.