Jack Mackey

John Bernard Mackey was born on 16 May 1922 in Leichhardt, Sydney, to Stanislaus and Bridget Catherine Mackey. Relocating to Portland, New South Wales, in 1936, he finished his schooling at fourteen and reluctantly apprenticed in his father's bakery. Dissatisfied with civilian life and strained by his mother's death in 1939, he falsified his age to enlist in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 4 June 1940, receiving the service number NX20317. Posted to the newly formed 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion—a unit designed to function as an infantry-engineer hybrid—he undertook garrison duties in Darwin before embarking for the Middle East in November 1941.

Following the Syrian campaign, the 2/3rd Pioneers were rushed to Egypt in July 1942 to help halt the Axis advance. Attached to the 9th Australian Division, Mackey experienced intense combat during the Second Battle of El Alamein. In late October, his battalion executed a deep penetration attack to establish a coastal blocking position, successfully isolating enemy units despite severe casualties. The division was subsequently withdrawn from the Mediterranean theatre to counter the Japanese threat in the Pacific, returning to Australia in early 1943.

After retraining for jungle warfare, the battalion deployed to New Guinea in August 1943. Mackey participated in the Salamaua-Lae campaign and the defence of the Scarlet Beach bridgehead at Finschhafen, enduring brutal terrain and repeated hospitalisations for malaria. Promoted to corporal by June 1944, he was recognized by his superiors as a highly capable junior leader who displayed exceptional physical and moral courage.

The battalion's final deployment occurred in May 1945 during the Allied liberation of Borneo. Landing on Tarakan Island, the pioneers were thrust into frontline infantry combat to clear Japanese strongholds dominating the high ground east of Tarakan town. The advance stalled at a heavily fortified Japanese defensive complex code-named 'Helen', situated on a steep, razor-backed ridge that precluded flanking manoeuvres. After days of bloody, frontal assaults failed to break the deadlock, Mackey led his section against the feature on 12 May 1945. The official citation for his posthumous Victoria Cross reads:

"For most conspicuous bravery in the face of strong enemy resistance in the attack on the Helen feature at Tarakan on 12th May, 1945. Corporal Mackey was in charge of a section of the 2nd/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion in the attack on the feature known as Helen, East of Tarakan town. Led by Corporal Mackey the section moved along a narrow spur with scarcely width for more than one man when it came under fire from three well sited positions near the top of a very steep razor-backed ridge. The ground fell away almost sheer on each side of the track making it almost impossible to move to a flank so Corporal Mackey led his men forward. He charged the first Light Machine Gun position but slipped and after wrestling with one enemy, bayoneted him, and charged straight on to the Heavy Machine Gun which was firing from a bunker position six yards to his right. He rushed this post and killed the crew with grenades. He then jumped back and changing his rifle for a sub-machine gun he attacked farther up the steep slope another Light Machine Gun position which was firing on his platoon. Whilst charging he fired his gun and reached within a few feet of the enemy position when he was killed by Light Machine Gun fire but not before he had killed two more enemy. By his exceptional bravery and complete disregard for his own life Corporal Mackey was largely responsible for the killing of seven Japanese and the elimination of two machine gun posts which enabled his platoon to gain its objective, from which the Company continued to engage the enemy. His fearless action and outstanding courage were an inspiration to the whole battalion."

Mackey's aggressive assault broke the immediate defensive deadlock, enabling his section, supported by Lance Corporal Arthur Reginald Riedy, to secure the objective. The 'Helen' feature was entirely subdued two days later. Initially buried on the battlefield, Mackey's remains were later concentrated at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Labuan War Cemetery. His Victoria Cross was officially gazetted on 6 November 1945 and presented to his sister in early 1947.