40 Facts About Tom Derrick

In November 1943, during the Second World War, Tom Derrick was awarded the Victoria Cross for his assault on a heavily defended Japanese position at Sattelberg, New Guinea.

Tom Derrick was posted to the Middle East, where he took part in the siege of Tobruk, was recommended for the Military Medal and promoted to corporal.

Later, at El Alamein, Tom Derrick was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for knocking out three German machine gun posts, destroying two tanks, and capturing one hundred prisoners.

Tom Derrick returned to Australia with his battalion in February 1943, before transferring to the South West Pacific Theatre where he fought in the battle to capture Lae.

Tom Derrick was born on 20 March 1914 at the McBride Maternity Hospital in the Adelaide suburb of Medindie, South Australia, to David Tom Derrick, a labourer from Ireland, and his Australian wife, Ada.

The Derricks were poor, and Tom often walked barefoot to attend Sturt Street Public School and later Le Fevre Peninsula School.

In 1928, aged fourteen, Tom Derrick left school and found work in a bakery.

When in 1931, the Depression worsened, Tom Derrick lost his bakery job and, with friends, headed by bicycle for the regional town of Berri, approximately 225 kilometres away, in search of work.

Tom Derrick later moved on to a full-time job at a nearby fruit farm, remaining there for the next nine years.

Tom Derrick did not join up when war broke out in September 1939 but, like many Australians, enlisted after the fall of France in June 1940.

Tom Derrick first joined his unit at the Wayville Showgrounds, before basic training at Woodside.

Tom Derrick thrived on military life, but found discipline difficult to accept.

The ship made a stop at Perth, where Tom Derrick was confined on board for going absent without leave to sightsee.

Tom Derrick was in more trouble, and was charged and fined for punching another soldier who taunted him over this incident.

At one point during the engagement, Tom Derrick jumped up onto an Allied gun carrier heading towards the Germans.

Armed with a Thompson submachine gun and under intense heavy fire, Tom Derrick attacked and knocked out three machine gun posts while standing in the carrier.

Tom Derrick then had the driver reverse up to each post so he could ensure each position was silenced.

Disembarking at Port Melbourne in late February 1943, Tom Derrick was granted a period of leave and travelled by train to Adelaide where he spent time with Beryl.

Tom Derrick was scornful of the Japanese defence of Lae, and wrote in his diary that "our greatest problem was trying to catch up" with the retreating Japanese force.

Sattelberg was a densely wooded hill rising 1,000 metres and dominating the Finschhafen region; it was in an assault on this position that Tom Derrick was to earn the Victoria Cross.

Tom Derrick destroyed the position with grenades and ordered his second section around to the right flank.

Tom Derrick then returned to his platoon, where he gathered his first and third sections in preparation for an assault on the three remaining machine gun posts in the area.

Sergeant Tom Derrick was in command of his platoon of the company.

On receipt of this order, Sergeant Tom Derrick, displaying dogged tenacity, requested one last attempt to reach the objective.

Tom Derrick then ordered his second section around on the right flank.

On Christmas Eve, Tom Derrick noted in his diary that the next day would be his "4th Xmas overseas" and "I don't care where I spend the next one I only hope I'm still on deck [alive]".

On 20 August 1944, Tom Derrick was posted to an officer cadet training unit in Victoria.

On 1 May 1945, Tom Derrick took part in the landing at Tarakan; an island off the coast of Borneo.

The Japanese force on the island mounted a determined resistance, and Tom Derrick was later quoted in the Sunday Sun as saying he had "never struck anything so tough as the Japanese on Tarakan".

Tom Derrick later recorded in his diary that these setbacks were a "bad show".

Tom Derrick successfully argued that a company was best, given the restrictions posed by the terrain.

Tom Derrick was in high spirits that night, possibly in an attempt to lift his platoon's morale.

Tom Derrick played a key role in this action, and coordinated both platoons during the final assault that afternoon.

Tom Derrick sat upright to see if his men were all right, and was hit by five bullets from the gun's second burst; striking him from his left hip to the right of his chest.

Tom Derrick was in great pain, and told Colby that he had "had it".

When stretcher bearers reached the position at dawn, Tom Derrick insisted that the other wounded be attended to first.

Tom Derrick was carried off Freda later that morning, where he was met by the 26th Brigade's commander, Brigadier David Whitehead.

Tom Derrick's reputation continued to grow after his death, and many Australian soldiers recalled any association, however slight, they had with him.

Tom Derrick kept a diary, composed poetry, collected butterflies and frequently wrote to his wife, while on active service.

On 7 May 1947, Beryl Tom Derrick attended an investiture ceremony at the Government House, Adelaide, where she was presented with her late husband's Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal by the Governor of South Australia, Lieutenant General Sir Charles Norrie.