A Victoria Cross medal from the Vietnam War has sold for $488,000 at auction in Sydney as part of a collection of 12 medals and memorabilia.
The medal was awarded to Adelaide-born Major Peter Badcoe for a series of heroic actions during the Vietnam War in 1967.
The Victoria Cross, the commonwealth's highest decoration for gallantry, was sold to an anonymous buyer, but will remain in Sydney, the auctioneer said.
Three bidders were in the race to buy the medals, with spirited bidding starting at $300,000 in Bonhams & Goodman's auction house in Double Bay on Tuesday night.
Bonhams & Goodman chairman Tim Goodman said the medal would remain in Australia.
"The collection has been purchased by a prominent Australian who wished to remain anonymous," he told reporters after the auction.
"We should be able to make a further statement regarding the outcome in the coming days."
Major Badcoe's daughter Carey Badcoe thanked the buyer on behalf of her family.
"It is a wonderful recognition of our father," she said.
"We are delighted that the Victorian Cross will be remaining in Australia."
The same buyer also spent $219,600 on a brass breastplate presented to an Aboriginal tribe by explorers Burke and Wills in South Australian in 1861.
The breastplate, given to the Yandruwandha people of Coopers Creek, was discovered in desert sands in April 2001.
The SA government had hoped the Adelaide soldier's VC would end up in the Australian War Memorial.
In the last public sale of a Victoria Cross, television mogul Kerry Stokes bought the medal for $1.2 million and donated it to the war memorial.
Major Badcoe was awarded the Victoria Cross in recognition of three acts of bravery in a three-month period in Vietnam in 1967, including the one in which he lost his life.
Known as the "galloping major" because he always led his men from the front, Major Badcoe was killed in action on April 7, 1967.
Major Badcoe was in Huong Tra province with a South Vietnamese company which came under small arms fire and withdrew to a cemetery for cover, leaving him and a radio operator 50 metres in front under heavy mortar fire.
Seeing the withdrawal, Major Badcoe ran back and got the men moving again.
He was leading them on when he got up to throw a grenade and was killed by a burst of machine gun fire.
"Major Badcoe's conspicuous gallantry and leadership on all three occasions was an inspiration to all, each action, ultimately, was successful due entirely to his efforts, the final one ending in his death," the citation reads.
"His valour and leadership were in the best traditions of the military profession and the Australian Regular Army."
As well as the Victoria Cross, the medal group sold on Tuesday night included the US Silver Star with Oak Leaf.
The memorabilia included photographs, letters from Major Badcoe to his family and newspaper clippings.
It had been expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000.
"It's an extraordinary result," Mr Goodman said.
"There was quite a lot of interest during the viewing."
Mr Stokes was unable to be contacted for comment about the sale.
