Alfred Shout was born in Wellington, New Zealand in August 1881. After being privately educated until 1891 Alfred went to school in Newman, a tiny settlement north of Masterton. At the outbreak of the Boer War Alfred was anxious to join up, but almost certainly at the age of 18 he would have been regarded as too young and inexperienced for the early New Zealand contingents. Alfred and his half-brother Bill paid their own way to South Africa where Alfred enlisted with the Border Horse Regiment on 17 Feb 1900.

After the war he stayed on in South Africa continuing his military service in the Cape Field Artillery. In 1905 he married an Australian girl, Rose Alice Howe, and together with daughter Florence they migrated to Australia in 1907. He maintained his interest in the military, immediately joining the 29th Infantry Regiment of the Citizens Military Force. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Shout transferred to the newly raised Australian Imperial Force on 27 August 1914 and was posted to the 1st Battalion as a second lieutenant.

Shout's battalion took part in the original landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and he was wounded on the first day. He was wounded four times before the August Offensive, and throughout his time in Gallipoli, Shout exhibited outstanding bravery and leadership. He was awarded the Military Cross, Mentioned in Despatches, promoted to Captain and awarded the Victoria Cross, all in the space of four months.

Shout was mortally wounded on 9 August 1915 during trench fighting at Lone Pine. On 11 August Alfred Shout died of his wounds aboard the hospital ship Neuralia and was buried at sea. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in October 1915, becoming the most highly decorated Australian soldier on Gallipoli.

Oil, 870 x 1220mm (Posthumous Portrait)