Thomas Currie Derrick "Diver"

Thomas Currie "Diver" Derrick stands among the most celebrated infantry combat leaders in Australian military history. Born at Medindie, Adelaide, on 20 March 1914, the eldest son of David Derrick, an Irish-born labourer, and Ada Derrick, née Whitcombe, he grew up amid severe working-class poverty in Port Adelaide. He left school at fourteen and survived the Great Depression through intermittent labouring, repairing bicycles, selling newspapers and working for a baker. Early in 1931 he and several friends cycled about 140 miles, roughly 225 kilometres, to Berri on the Murray River in search of employment. After periods in a sustenance camp, Derrick obtained work on a vineyard at Winkie near Berri and remained in the district for much of the next nine years. On 24 June 1939 he married Clarance Violet "Beryl" Leslie at St Laurence's Catholic Church in North Adelaide. He volunteered for the Second Australian Imperial Force in June 1940 and enlisted on 5 July as Private SX7964, subsequently serving with the newly raised 2/48th Australian Infantry Battalion of the 26th Brigade.

Derrick embarked for the Middle East with the 2/48th Battalion aboard the Stratheden in November 1940. His first major campaign came during the siege of Tobruk in 1941, where his aggression, initiative and skill in patrol work brought promotion to corporal. Contemporary accounts also indicate that he was probably recommended for a Military Medal following fighting on 1 May, although the award was not made. By July 1942 the battalion was fighting at Tel el Eisa during the First Battle of El Alamein. On 10 and 11 July, Derrick repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire, destroyed three machine-gun positions, helped capture more than one hundred prisoners and played a prominent part in resisting a subsequent armoured counter-attack, damaging two tanks with sticky grenades. His conduct earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal, officially recorded on 18 February 1943, and he was promoted sergeant on 28 July 1942.

Three months later, during the Second Battle of El Alamein, Derrick again distinguished himself in some of the 2/48th Battalion's hardest fighting. He repeatedly exposed himself while attacking enemy machine-gun positions and was wounded during the battle. By the end of the fighting only a fraction of the battalion's original strength remained effective. His reputation for courage, tactical judgement and leadership was already firmly established within the 9th Division.

The 9th Division returned to Australia in February 1943 and underwent extensive amphibious and jungle warfare training before deployment to New Guinea. Derrick took part in operations around Lae in September and later moved with the 26th Brigade into the fighting for the Huon Peninsula. In the days preceding the final assault on Sattelberg, he was placed in command of 11 Platoon, B Company, after heavy casualties among its leaders. On 24 November the company was ordered to outflank formidable Japanese positions dominating steep ground below Sattelberg. Repeated attempts to advance were stopped by machine-gun fire and grenades. As daylight faded and withdrawal was ordered, Derrick asked for another twenty minutes to continue the attack.

Moving ahead of his men with grenades and rifle, Derrick personally attacked the Japanese positions at extraordinarily close range. He first destroyed a post blocking his forward section, then climbed forward under fire to deal with a group of six further positions. Returning to the remainder of his platoon, he led renewed attacks against the final posts. By the end of the action he had personally reduced ten enemy positions, securing the foothold from which the battalion completed the capture of Sattelberg the following morning. His conduct brought the award of the Victoria Cross. The announcement appeared in the London Gazette on 23 March 1944, which described his "most conspicuous courage, outstanding leadership and devotion to duty" during the final assault.

The official citation concluded that Derrick's gallantry and refusal to admit defeat had been decisive in the capture of Sattelberg. His achievement immediately became one of the best-known Australian infantry actions of the Pacific war. On the morning of 25 November 1943, after the Japanese had withdrawn and the 2/48th Battalion occupied Sattelberg, Derrick's commanding officer gave him the honour of raising the Australian flag over the captured position. Derrick recorded in his diary that the colonel praised his platoon's work and insisted that he hoist the flag. The well-known Australian War Memorial photograph of Derrick raising the flag, accession number 016246, is catalogued separately as having been made on 3 December 1943, so the photograph date should not be confused with the actual capture and flag-raising on 25 November.

The 2/48th Battalion returned to Australia in February 1944. Derrick was subsequently selected for officer training at the Officer Cadet Training Unit at Seymour, Victoria, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in late 1944. Despite opportunities that might have removed him from frontline service, he sought to return to the 2/48th Battalion, rejoining his old unit as an officer. A surviving Australian War Memorial photograph dated 25 November 1944 shows Derrick and Lieutenant Reginald Saunders congratulating each other following their successful officer training.

In 1945 Derrick deployed with the battalion for Operation Oboe One, the invasion of Tarakan Island off Borneo. The 2/48th landed on 1 May and became involved in difficult fighting against entrenched Japanese positions in the island's rugged interior. On 22 and 23 May Derrick led his platoon in fighting around a strongly defended feature code-named Freda, gaining much of the position although the enemy still held its highest knoll as darkness fell. Derrick dispersed his men for the night and lay down on a jungle track to rest. At about 3 a.m. on 23 May, a Japanese light machine gun firing on a fixed line sent a burst along the track. Derrick sat up to make sure his men were safe. A second burst struck him five times in an arc from his left hip to his right chest.

Derrick immediately understood the severity of his wounds. After lying quietly for a time, he told a comrade, "I've had it. That's that. Write to Beryl." Even while mortally wounded he continued directing his platoon's operations until mid-morning, when he was finally carried to the rear for treatment. He died from his wounds on 24 May 1945, aged thirty-one. Derrick was ultimately buried in Labuan War Cemetery, where he lies in Plot 24, Row A, Grave 9.

Thomas Currie Derrick left behind a military reputation founded not only on conspicuous personal courage but on an unusual ability to inspire and lead soldiers in close combat. From Tobruk and Tel el Eisa to El Alamein, Lae, Sattelberg and Tarakan, his service encompassed some of the most demanding campaigns fought by the Second Australian Imperial Force. Awarded the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal, and rising from private soldier to commissioned lieutenant, he became one of the best-known Australian soldiers of the Second World War. His Victoria Cross action at Sattelberg remains one of the outstanding examples of small-unit leadership in Australian military history.