38 Facts About Jack Hinton

Jack Hinton was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for his actions at Kalamata on 29 April 1941 during the Battle of Greece.

Jack Hinton volunteered for service abroad with the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was posted to the 20th Battalion.

Jack Hinton was freed in April 1945 by advancing American forces.

Jack Hinton was educated at local schools and on most days, before starting lessons, would milk a herd of 40 cows.

Jack Hinton spent most of the next several years on the West Coast working in railway construction, mining for gold, picking fruit, hauling coal, and saw milling.

Jack Hinton gained respect for his honesty and hard-working nature and became a foreman in the department.

At the outbreak of war, Jack Hinton enlisted in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which was being raised for service abroad.

Jack Hinton was posted to the 20th Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger, and based at Burnham Military Camp.

Jack Hinton vehemently protested, in strong language, an order from Parrington to surrender.

Jack Hinton continued towards the town's waterfront, clearing out two light machine-gun nests and a mortar with grenades, then dealt with the garrison of a house where some of the enemy were sheltering.

Jack Hinton then assisted in the capture of an artillery piece, but shortly after was shot in the stomach, immobilised and captured, one of about 6,000 Allied soldiers made a prisoner of war.

Jack Hinton then came on with the bayonet followed by a crowd of New Zealanders.

Serjeant Jack Hinton smashed the window and then the door of the first house and dealt with the garrison with the bayonet.

Jack Hinton repeated the performance in the second house and as a result, until overwhelming German forces arrived, the New Zealanders held the guns.

Serjeant Jack Hinton then fell with a bullet wound through the lower abdomen and was taken prisoner.

The announcement of Jack Hinton's VC was made within a week of Lieutenant Charles Upham, another member of the 20th Battalion, receiving the same award for his actions during the fighting in the Battle of Crete.

Jack Hinton was being punished with solitary confinement for one such attempt when his VC was gazetted.

Jack Hinton was paraded before his fellow prisoners and presented with a VC ribbon by the camp's commandant before being returned to his cell to complete his punishment.

In 1944, even though a prisoner of war, Jack Hinton was contacted by the International Red Cross to pass on a request from the Labour Party.

Jack Hinton had previously signaled his interest in pursuing a career in politics.

The Germans evacuated the camp but Jack Hinton, feigning sickness, remained behind.

Jack Hinton soon made contact with soldiers of the United States 6th Armored Division.

Jack Hinton borrowed an American uniform and went forward to the frontline with the 44th Infantry Division and assisted in the capture of three villages and rounding up of German POWs.

Jack Hinton remained in England for over three months, awaiting repatriation to New Zealand.

Transport finally available, Jack Hinton departed for New Zealand in early July and arrived on 4 August 1945.

Jack Hinton was extremely uncomfortable with the public attention he received because of his status as a VC recipient.

Jack Hinton eventually found work managing hotels on behalf of Dominion Breweries.

Jack Hinton was initially based at the Thistle Hotel, a notorious drinking establishment in Auckland, for three years, during which he received a belated mention in despatches for his escape attempts while a POW.

Jack Hinton regularly attended VC and George Cross celebrations, including the VC centenary in 1956.

In 1963, Eunice, whom Jack Hinton had married following the death of her first husband in the 1950s, died from a heart attack.

In 1968, he was married again, to Molly Schumacher, a barmaid at the Onehunga Hotel in Auckland, which Jack Hinton was running at the time.

Jack Hinton retired in 1980, and he and Molly moved to Ashburton in the South Island.

Jack Hinton spent much of his retirement fishing, and in 1990 shifted to Christchurch to be nearer to Molly's relatives.

Jack Hinton died on 28 June 1997, and was honoured with a military funeral, attended by 800 people.

Jack Hinton was survived by his second wife; he had no children from either of his marriages.

Jack Hinton is buried in Christchurch, in the Returned Servicemen's Association section of the Ruru Lawn Cemetery.

Jack Hinton is remembered with a plaque in his birthplace of Colac Bay, and the restaurant at the Christchurch Returned Servicemen's Association is named for him.

Jack Hinton's VC was loaned by his family to the Army Museum New Zealand at Waiouru, where it is on display.