Tom Derrick

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A portrait of Tom Derrick in military clothing with a rifle in his hand
Sergeant Derrick, November 1943

Thomas Currie "Diver" Derrick , VC , DCM (born March 20, 1914 in Medindie , Adelaide , Australia ; † May 24, 1945 in Tarakan , Indonesia ) was an Australian soldier and bearer of the Victoria Cross, the highest honor for bravery " in the face of the enemy ”awarded to members of the armed forces of Great Britain and the Commonwealth . In November 1943, during World War II , Derrick was nominated for this award because of his attack on the heavy Japanese position at Sattelberg , New Guinea . During the mission he climbed a rock face under heavy machine gun fire, took out seven enemy riflemen and led his unit to destroy other enemy positions.

Life

Derrick was the eldest son of Irish immigrant David Derrick and his wife Ada. He grew up in poor conditions. He attended elementary school, the Sturt Street Public School in Le Fevre and the Peninsula School in Port Adelaide and left these at the age of 14. He then made a living doing odd jobs like repairing bicycles, selling newspapers, or helping out in a bakery. He was also very interested in sports, for example boxing, soccer, cricket and also gambling. In 1931, he and a few others rode a bicycle 225 km to Berri on the Murray River in search of a job . Here he worked as a helper in wine growing at Winkie for nine years.

Military career

In St. Laurence's Catholic Church in North Adelaide, Derrick married Clarence Violet "Beryl" Leslie on June 24, 1939 and joined the Australian armed forces on June 26, 1940. In 1940 Derrick served in the 2 / 48th Battalion, soon proved to be a good soldier and was promoted to corporal when his unit was deployed in Tobruk . In July 1942 he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery at Tell el Eisa ( Egypt ). Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to sergeant . In October he was deployed with his unit at el-Alamein where he received another award. In February 1943 he returned with his unit to Australia and received further training in North Queensland and Papua, before being used in September for the takeover of Lae in New Guinea. In November the battalion attacked the hill near Sattleberg above Finschhafen . Derrick was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in this impassable terrain and his work under heavy fire, which made the conquest of Sattleberg possible.

The battalion returned to Australia again in February 1944 and Derrick was assigned to an officer training session in August. Here he was promoted to lieutenant in November. On May 1, 1945 he was used in the retaking of Tarakan on Borneo. When he led his platoon against a heavily defended post, they were shot at. When he wanted to check whether there were any injuries, he was hit in the chest by five bullets. He died on May 24, 1945 and was buried in the Labuan War Cemetery.

literature

  • Murray Farquhar: Derrick VC Rigby, = Adelaide / New York, 1982 ISBN 0-7270-1708-X (biography).
  • Robert John O'Neill (Ed.): I Am Soldier. War Stories from the Ancient World to the 20th Century. Osprey Pub, Oxford / New York, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84603-515-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Bill Gammage: Derrick, Thomas Currie (Tom) (1914–1945) . In: Australian Dictionary of Biography . 13: A – De. . National Center of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra 1993, ISBN 0-522-84512-6 .
  2. ^ Australian Military Forces. In: The London Gazette. thegazette.co.uk, March 21, 1944, p. 1361 , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  3. ^ Lieutenant Thomas Currie Derrick VC In: Monument Australia. monumentaustralia.org.au, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Thomas Currie Derrick. Commonwealth Parliament, accessed May 9, 2016 (Australian English).
  5. ↑ a b c Lieutenant Thomas Currie Derrick. on awm.gov.au
  6. ↑ No. SX-7964 Sergeant Thomas Currie Derrick, Australian Military Forces. in thegazette.co.uk February 18, 1943, p. 864.
  7. ↑ Derrick, Thomas Currie. cwgc.org, accessed May 9, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Derrick, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Derrick, Thomas Currie; Derrick, Diver (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian soldier and bearer of the Victoria Cross
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Medindie , Adelaide , Australia
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1945
Place of death on Tarakan , Indonesia