Lieutenant Thomas Currie Derrick
Australian War MemorialThomas Derrick was born on 20 March 1914 in Adelaide. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 5 July 1940, and embarked for the Middle East with the 2/48th Battalion. Derrick soon proved himself to be an excellent soldier, gaining promotion to corporal while his unit was in Tobruk.
In July 1942 he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery and leadership at Tel el Eisa. At the end of that month Derrick was promoted to sergeant. By October his unit was in action at El Alamein, where he again served with distinction.
Derrick's unit returned to Australia in February 1943, training in north Queensland and Papua before helping to capture Lae in September. In November the 2/48th were in action at Sattelberg, overlooking Finschafen.
Fighting amidst rugged terrain and under heavy fire from Japanese machine guns, Derrick's platoon was ordered to take a slope by storm, but the platoon was held back by intense fire from the enemy. The company was ordered to retire, but Derrick obtained permission to make another attempt.
He advanced alone, scaling steep cliffs under fire, hurling grenades and using his rifle to clear ten machine gun posts, making possible the capture of Sattelberg. For these actions, Derrick was awarded the Victoria Cross.
In May 1945, Derrick's platoon was serving in Borneo when a Japanese machine gun fired into the Australian lines. As he sat up to check that his men were all right, Derrick was hit by five bullets from the gun's second burst. He died on 24 May 1945 and was buried in Labuan War Cemetery.
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