The late corporal Cameron Baird – son of the former Carlton footballer Doug Baird, has been posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross – the 100^th recipient of the highest military medal.

Doug, his wife Kay and their son Brendan were amongst members of Corporal Baird’s family present in the Australian Federal Parliament when Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed the news.

“This is a bittersweet day,” Mr Abbott told the Lower House, reminding that the honour was bestowed for “acts of valour, extreme devotion to duty and ultimate self-sacrifice”.

Corporal Baird, who previously served in East Timor and Iraq, died in Afghanistan on June 22, 2013 – the 40th digger to die in the conflict.

As a 32-year old member of the 2nd Commando Regiment, Corporal Baird was killed in a firefight in the Khod Valley.

Corporal Baird’s courage was previously acknowledged with his awarding of the Medal for Gallantry six years ago. He had braved Taliban machine-gun fire to lead his men in recovering a mortally-wounded Private.

At the time of Corporal Baird’s death, Brendan contacted the club this morning to confirm the link and to say that all members of the Baird family, Cameron included, “have been Carlton to the core from day dot”.

The Carlton-Baird connection can be sourced to the late 1960s, to when Doug, a six-game Carlton player through 1969 and the Premiership year of 1970, was recruited from the Paramount Football club in Melbourne’s north.

Doug plied his craft at Under 19 and Reserve Grade level at Princes Park through the Barassi years. From full-forward he took out the League’s Under 19 goalkicking honours with 40 goals in 1968 (to tie with Richmond’s David Droscher) and he was adjudged fourth in the reserve grade best and fairest award just two years later.

The 1970 squad. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

At senior level, Doug donned the No.27 now worn by Dennis Armfield, and while his senior career was all-too-brief the interest in Carlton never wavered – in part through the lifelong friendships with Robert Walls, Andy Lukas and the late Vin Waite.

“Wallsy” would act as best man at Doug’s wedding, and Andy and “Vinny” as groomsmen.

With Alex Jesaulenko the resident Carlton full-forward through the period, senior appearances for Doug were unfortunately all too few. That said, Doug’s contemporaries like the four-time Premiership player David McKay remember him as a very capable footballer.

“Doug was a good strong mark and an accurate, but as a full-forward he was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time with ‘Jezza’ there,” McKay said.

“He led the goalkicking in the Under 19s and reserves and I remember playing alongside him in ’69 when the reserves were runners-up in the Grand Final against Melbourne.”

Corporal Baird was born in Burnie, for this was a time when Doug captained and coached Cooee and later Ulverstone. On the family’s relocation to Melbourne, Corporal Baird, at just 15, turned out with the Calder Cannons’ 17 year-olds under the watch of the former Northern Blues coach Robert Hyde. There he played alongside Jude Bolton and Ryan O’Keefe (later dual Premiership players with Sydney) and Paul Chapman, a three-time Premiership player for Geelong.

Mr Abbott said Corporal Baird was already an iconic figure in the army, and was recognized with his awarding of the VC for most conspicuous acts of valour, extreme devotion to duty and ultimate self-sacrifice in Afghanistan as a commando team leader.

“He was on his fifth special forces tour when he was killed in the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross,” the prime minister said.

Mr Abbott said Corporal Baird was the 40th Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan – “and, please God, the last”.