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The Power of Ten: Watch Part Two

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has recreated his military hero Albert Jacka's story in part two of Sunday Night's special presentation The Power of Ten.

Roberts-Smith said Jacka's story is one that influenced his decision to become a soldier and that his heroic actions in battles following the Gallipoli campaign should have earned him the VC several times over.

"For anyone who knows anything about WWI knows that this is the man that probably should have received the VC three times."

"What makes Jacka so impressive, is that he always stood up for what he believed in and that didn’t endear him with the senior ranks of the British military."

Problem was, he was unpopular with his superiors and he didn’t care.

In The Power Of Ten, Jacka's bravery at Gallipoli has been recreated in minute detail – revealing how he crossed no-mans-land to single-handedly surprise and kill seven Turkish soldiers and hold the Anzac line.

According to reports, his officer found him near the dead trying to light a cigarette and he said simply, "I got the beggars sir".

He went on to fight on the Western Front and won two more medals for bravery.

"The thinking is he probably didn’t get his other Victoria Crosses because he had made them so disgruntled about the way he led," Roberts-Smith said.

He received the first VC of 10 awarded to Anzac troops at Gallipoli.

Jacka forged a career in politics after the war and became the mayor of St Kilda.

Sadly, due to exposure to gas on the Western Front he died of kidney failure at the age of 39.

Also featured in The Power of Ten is William Dunstan, who enlisted when his girlfriend's parents told him he must return a hero in order to marry.

"He was part of only once in our history where three men were awarded the Vic cross for the same action… One of those men was killed and Dunstan was actually blinded for a year after that happened."

"Dunstan was actually told by his in-laws, 'You can't marry our daughter unless you get a VC"…. No one really goes away to win a VC but obviously this was a situation where that occurred."

Roberts-Smith said the thing that struck him about William Dunstan was how he his from the fame of being a hero and went on to have a successful career outside of the military.

"When he came home he actually became the editor of the Herald Sun In Melbourne. So he had quite a good career when he left the military," Roberts-Smith said.

Ten Australian actors were cast to play the role of each VC recipient — handpicked for their similarities to the men as documented in photographs and writing.

"Before we did the re-enactments we wanted [the actors] to understand the feeling and emotion that went through them in battle," Roberts-Smith said.

"We wanted the project to be enduring – hopefully providing something educational for future generations."

Hugo Throssell was a West Australian VC hero who was later labelled a traitor for criticising Australia's wars.

After his heroics in battle he came home badly injured and met socialist Katharine Pritchard in hospital. They married and had a son.

In a public address he claimed to be a socialist and as a result was disowned by his family and friends.

Hugo Throssell's work dried up and his farm failed. The Gallipoli hero took his own life with his service revolver, leaving his wife and son with an ex-servicemen's pension.

"The only way he could provide for them was to die."

His is not the only story marred by the lasting effects of the Gallipoli campaign — Cyril Bassett, the only New Zealander to receive a VC at Gallipoli, suffered from badly from PTSD in the post-war years.

Bassett had repeatedly run out into enemy fire to reconnect the cable critical to communications on the front line. The fire came so close his collar and jacket pocket had bullet holes.

"He used to say 'all my friends got were wooden crosses', but I think he was quite proud to have the Victoria Cross."

The stories of the ten men who were awarded Victoria Crosses for bravery at Gallipoli is one that has never been told in such detail.

"These are my heroes. They are my inspiration and it's their stories that I want to share with Australia," Ben Roberts-Smith said.

"For me, this is a personal mission to find out where they fought and what led to them being awarded the Victoria Cross."