Tom Derrick Thomas Currie " Diver " Derrick VC , DCM ( 20 March 1914 – 24 May 1945 ) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest decoration for gallantry " in the face of the enemy " awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces . In November 1943 , during the Second World War , Derrick was awarded the Victoria Cross for his assault on a heavily defended Japanese position at Sattelberg , New Guinea . During the engagement , he scaled a cliff face while under heavy fire and silenced seven machine gun posts , before leading his platoon in a charge that destroyed a further three . Born in the Adelaide suburb of Medindie , South Australia , Derrick left school at the age of fourteen and found work in a bakery . As the Great Depression grew worse he lost his job and moved to Berri , working on a fruit farm before marrying in 1939 . In July 1941 , Derrick enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force , joining the 2 / 48th Battalion . He 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 , Derrick was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for knocking out three German machine gun posts , destroying two tanks , and capturing one hundred prisoners . 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 . Back in Australia the following February he was posted to an officer cadet training unit , being commissioned lieutenant in November 1944 . In April 1945 his battalion was sent to the Pacific island of Morotai , an assembly point for the Allied invasion of the Philippines . Engaged in action the following month on the heavily defended hill " Freda " on Tarakan Island Derrick was hit by five bullets from a Japanese machine gun . He died from his wounds on 24 May 1945 . Early life . Derrick was born in the Adelaide suburb of Medindie , South Australia , on 20 March 1914 to David Derrick , a labourer from Ireland , and his Australian wife , Ada ( née Whitcombe ) . 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 , Derrick left school and found work in a bakery . By this time , he had developed a keen interest in sports , particularly cricket , Australian rules football , boxing and swimming ; his diving in the Port River earned him the nickname of " Diver " . With the advent of the Great Depression , Derrick scraped a living from odd jobs — such as fixing bicycles and selling newspapers — to supplement his job as a baker . When in 1931 , the Depression worsened , Derrick lost his bakery job and , with friends , headed by bicycle for the regional town of Berri — approximately away — in search of work . Jobs in Berri were hard to come by and Derrick and two friends spent the next few months living in a tent on the banks of the Murray River . When the annual Royal Adelaide Show opened that year , Derrick went to the boxing pavilion to accept a challenge of staying upright for three rounds with the ex - lightweight champion of Australia . Although he was knocked down in the second round , he immediately got back to his feet and won the bet ; albeit at the cost of a black eye , and a few bruised ribs . Eventually , towards the end of 1931 , Derrick found work picking fruit at a vineyard in Winkie , a short distance outside Berri . He later moved onto a full - time job at a nearby fruit farm , remaining there for the next nine years . On 24 June 1939 , Derrick married Clarance Violet " Beryl " Leslie — his " one true love " whom he had met at a dance in Adelaide seven years earlier — at St Laurence ' s Catholic Church , North Adelaide . Second World War . 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 . He joined the Second Australian Imperial Force on 5 July 1940 , and was posted to the 2 / 48th Battalion , 26th Brigade , as a private . Derrick first joined his unit at the Wayville Showgrounds , before basic training at Woodside . < ref name = " 2 / 48 " > < / ref > Derrick thrived on military life , but found discipline difficult to accept . In October , the 2 / 48th Battalion paraded through the streets of Adelaide to Mitcham railway station prior to its embarkation for the Middle East . The battalion ' s voyage overseas was postponed until 17 November , when the unit boarded the SS " Stratheden " . The ship made a stop at Perth , where Derrick was confined on board for going absent without leave to sightsee . He was soon in more trouble , and was charged and fined for punching another soldier who taunted him over this incident . North Africa . On arrival in Palestine , the 2 / 48th Battalion encamped at El Kantara and began training in desert warfare . For relaxation , the battalion set up athletic events , and Derrick became well known for often winning cross - country races — and for organising a book on the outcomes . In March 1941 , the unit went by train and truck to Alexandria , Egypt , then along the North African coast to Cyrenaica , in Libya , to join the 9th Australian Division . After the 2 / 48th Battalion completed its training with the 9th Division at Cyrenaica , they were moved further along the coast to Gazala . Then , just as they began to dig in , the battalion was abruptly withdrawn to Tobruk in response to the German Afrika Korps ' advance . They entered Tobruk on 9 April 1941 , and spent the following eight months besieged by Axis forces . While there , Derrick acquired an Italian Breda machine gun and regularly led fighting patrols against both German and Italian troops . Although Derrick ' s bravery was noted during the siege , he wrote in his diary about his constant fear of dying . On the night of 30 April , the Axis forces assaulted Tobruk ' s outer defences and managed to capture substantial ground . In response , the 2 / 48th Battalion was ordered to counter - attack the following evening . During the ensuing engagement , Derrick fought as a section member in the far left flank of the attack . After suffering heavy casualties in what Derrick described as " a bobby dazzler of a fire fight " , the battalion was forced to withdraw . Praised for his leadership and bravery during the assault , Derrick was immediately promoted to corporal , and recommended for the Military Medal . The award , however , was never made . In late May , Derrick discovered a German posing as a British tank officer and reported him to company headquarters ; the man was immediately arrested as a spy . Following a period of heavy fighting in June , the 2 / 48th Battalion was placed in reserve for a few days the following month . Promoted to platoon sergeant in September , Derrick — along with the rest of his battalion — was withdrawn from Tobruk and returned to Palestine aboard HMS " Kingston " on 22 October . Disembarking at Tel Aviv , they were given three days ' leave in the city , before returning for training . Following a period of rest and light garrison duties in Syria , the 2 / 48th Battalion was rushed to El Alamein , Egypt , to reinforce the British Eighth Army . During the First Battle of El Alamein on 10 July 1942 , Derrick took part in the 26th Australian Brigade ' s attack on Tel el Eisa . In the initial assault , Derrick , against a barrage of German grenades , led an attack against three machine gun posts and succeeded in destroying the positions before capturing over one hundred prisoners . During the Axis counter - attack that evening , the Australian line was overrun by tanks . As the German infantry following the tanks advanced , Derrick ' s company led a charge against the men . During the engagement , Derrick managed to destroy two German tanks using sticky bomb s . Commended for his " outstanding leadership and courage " , Derrick was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his part in the fighting at Tel el Eisa . The award was announced in a supplement to the " London Gazette " on 18 February 1943 . Promoted to sergeant on 28 July , Derrick led a six - man reconnaissance on 3 October , successfully pinpointing several German machine gun positions and strongholds ; this information was to be vital for the upcoming Second Battle of El Alamein . The El Alamein offensive was launched on 23 October , with the 9th Australian Division taking part . At one point during the engagement , Derrick jumped up onto an Allied gun carrier heading towards the Germans . Armed with a Thompson submachine gun and under intense heavy fire , Derrick attacked and knocked out three machine gun posts while standing in the carrier . He then had the driver reverse up to each post so he could ensure each position was silenced . By the following morning , Derrick ' s platoon occupied all three posts . The members of the 2 / 48th Battalion who witnessed Derrick ' s action were sure he would be awarded the Victoria Cross , though no recommendation was made . For part of 31 October , Derrick assumed command of his company after all of the unit ' s officers had been killed or wounded in fierce fighting . On 21 November 1942 , Derrick was briefly admitted to the 2 / 3rd Australian Field Ambulance with slight shrapnel wounds to his right hand and buttock . Twelve days later , the 2 / 48th Battalion left El Alamein and returned to Gaza in Palestine , where , later that month , Derrick attended a corps patrolling course . In January 1943 , the 2 / 48th Battalion sailed home to Australia , aboard the S . S . " Nieuw Amsterdam " , along with the rest of the 9th Division . South West Pacific . Disembarking at Port Melbourne in late February 1943 , Derrick was granted a period of leave and travelled by train to Adelaide where he spent time with Beryl . He rejoined his battalion — now encamped in the outskirts of Adelaide — before they went by train to the Atherton Tableland for training in jungle warfare . Brought up to full strength by the end of April , the 2 / 48th Battalion completed its training following landing - craft exercises near Cairns . On 23 July , Derrick was attached to the 21st Brigade Headquarters but admitted to hospital for old injuries to his right eye later the same day . After hospital , Derrick returned briefly to Brigade before rejoining the 2 / 48th Battalion on 27 August . For much of August , the 2 / 48th Battalion had been in training for the Allied attack on Lae , in Papua New Guinea . The unit ' s objective was to land on a strip of land designated as " Red Beach " , and then fight their way approximately west towards Lae . Following a bombardment by American destroyers , Derrick ' s wave landed on the beach with minimal casualties on 4 September . Ten days later , the 2 / 48th Battalion ' s C Company — led by Derrick ' s platoon — captured Malahang airstrip , before Lae fell to the Allies on 16 September . 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 . Victoria Cross . Following Lae , the 9th Division was tasked to seize Finschhafen , clear the Huon Peninsula and gain control of the Vitiaz Strait . By 2 October , one of the division ' s brigades had gained a foothold on Finschhafen , but soon encountered fierce Japanese resistance . In response to a Japanese counter - attack , the 26th Brigade was transferred to reinforce the Australian position on 20 October and , when the division switched to the offensive in November , the brigade was ordered to capture Sattelberg . Sattelberg was a densely wooded hill rising and dominating the Finschhafen region ; it was in an assault on this position that Derrick was to earn the Victoria Cross . The Australian attack on Sattelberg began in mid - November , with the Japanese slowly giving ground and withdrawing back up the precipitous slopes . Each side suffered heavy casualties , and on 20 November , Derrick — who had been acting as company sergeant major for the previous month — was given command of B Company ' s 11 platoon after the unit had " lost all but one of their leaders " . By 22 November , the 2 / 23rd and 2 / 48th Battalions had reached the southern slopes of Sattelberg , holding a position approximately from the summit . A landslide had blocked the only road , so the final assault was made by infantry alone , without supporting tanks . On 24 November , the 2 / 48th Battalion ' s B Company was ordered to outflank a strong Japanese position sited on a cliff face , prior to attacking a feature from the Sattelberg township . The nature of the terrain meant that the only possible route was up a slope covered with kunai grass directly beneath the cliffs . Over a period of two hours , the Australians made several attempts to clamber up the slopes to reach their objective , but each time they were repulsed by intense machine gun fire and grenade attacks . As dusk fell , it appeared impossible to reach the objective or even hold the ground already gained , and the company was ordered to withdraw . In response , Derrick replied to his company commander : " Bugger the CO . Just give me twenty more minutes and we ' ll have this place . Tell him I ' m pinned down and can ' t get out . " Moving forward with his platoon , Derrick attacked a Japanese post that had been holding up the advance . He destroyed the position with grenades and ordered his second section around to the right flank . The section soon came under heavy machine gun and grenade fire from six Japanese posts . Clambering up the cliff face under heavy fire , Derrick held on with one hand while lobbing grenades into the weapon pits with the other , like " a man . . . shooting for [ a ] goal at basketball " . Climbing further up the cliff and in full view of the Japanese , Derrick continued to attack the posts with grenades before following up with accurate rifle fire . Within twenty minutes , he had reached the peak and cleared seven posts , while the demoralised Japanese defenders fled from their positions to the buildings of Sattelberg . 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 . Attacking the posts , Derrick personally rushed forward on four separate occasions and threw his grenades at a range of about , before all three were silenced . Derrick ' s platoon held their position that night , before the 2 / 48th Battalion moved in to take Sattelberg unopposed the following morning . The battalion commander insisted that Derrick personally hoist the Australian flag over the town ; it was raised at 10 : 00 on 25 November 1943 . The final assault on Sattelberg became known within the 2 / 48th Battalion as ' Derrick ' s Show ' . Although he was already a celebrity within the 9th Division , the action brought him to wide public attention . On 23 March 1944 , the announcement and accompanying citation for Derrick ' s Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement to the " London Gazette " . It read : Later war service . The 2 / 48th Battalion remained at Sattelberg until late December 1943 , when it returned to the coast in order to regroup . On Christmas Eve , 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 7 February 1944 , the battalion sailed from Finschhafen for Australia , disembarking at Brisbane . Granted home leave , Derrick made his way to South Australia for a short period with Beryl . In April , he was admitted to hospital suffering from malaria before returning to his battalion the following month . During this time , he was charged with being absent without leave and subsequently forfeited a day ' s pay . On 20 August 1944 , Derrick was posted to an officer cadet training unit in Victoria . He requested that he be allowed to rejoin the 2 / 48th Battalion at the end of the course ; contrary to normal Army policy that prevented officers commissioned from the ranks from returning to their previous units . An exemption was granted to Derrick only after much lobbying . While at this unit , Derrick shared a tent with Reg Saunders , who later became the Army ' s first Indigenous Australian officer . Commissioned as a lieutenant on 26 November 1944 , Derrick was granted twenty - four days leave . Returning to the 2 / 48th Battalion as a reinforcement officer , his appointment as a platoon commander in his old company was met by " great jubilation " . During this period , the battalion had been posted to Ravenshoe on the Atherton Tablelands for " an extensive training period " , before being transported from Cairns to Morotai during April 1945 . It was around this time that Derrick converted from his Church of England religious denomination and Salvationist beliefs to Catholicism — his wife ' s religion — though he was not overtly religious . On 1 May 1945 , Derrick took part in the landing at Tarakan ; an island off the coast of Borneo . Under the cover of a naval and aerial bombardment , he led his men ashore in the initial waves of the landing , where they were initially posted at the boundary of the 2 / 48th Battalion and 2 / 24th Battalion ' s area of responsibility . The Japanese force on the island mounted a determined resistance , and Derrick was later quoted in the " Sunday Sun " as saying he had " never struck anything so tough as the Japanese on Tarakan " . Slowly pushing inland , the 2 / 48th Battalion ' s main task from 19 May was to capture a heavily defended hill code - named " Freda " . Derrick ' s platoon unsuccessfully probed Japanese positions on that day and the next , at a loss of two men killed with others wounded . He later recorded in his diary that these setbacks were a " bad show " . On 21 May , Derrick and Lieutenant Colonel Bob Ainslie , the 2 / 48th Battalion ' s commander , debated the optimum size of the unit which should be used to capture the " Freda " position . Derrick successfully argued that a company was best , given the restrictions posed by the terrain . He was in high spirits that night , possibly in an attempt to lift his platoon ' s morale . On 22 May , Derrick ' s was one of two platoons that attacked a well - defended knoll and captured the position . Derrick played a key role in this action , and coordinated both platoons during the final assault that afternoon . After capturing the knoll , the two platoons — reinforced by two sections of the 2 / 4th Commando Squadron — dug in to await an expected Japanese counter - attack . At about 03 : 30 on 23 May , a Japanese light machine gun fired into the Australian position . 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 . His runner , " Curly " Colby , dragged him behind cover , but Derrick could not be immediately evacuated as Japanese troops attacked at about 04 : 00 . Derrick was in great pain , and told Colby that he had " had it " . Despite his wounds , he continued to issue orders for several hours . When day broke , it was discovered that Derrick ' s platoon were directly overlooked by a Japanese bunker — though this would not have been visible during the assault late the previous evening . When stretcher bearers reached the position at dawn , Derrick insisted that the other wounded be attended to first . Derrick was carried off " Freda " later that morning , where he was met by the 26th Brigade ' s commander , Brigadier David Whitehead . The two men briefly conversed before Derrick excused himself , fearing that he had not much time left and wishing to see the padre . Stepping back , Whitehead saluted and sent for Father Arch Bryson . At the hospital , surgeons found that bullets had torn away much of Derrick ' s liver ; he died on 24 May 1945 during a second operation on his wounds . He was buried in the 2 / 48th Battalion ' s cemetery on Tarakan that afternoon , and later re - interred at the Labuan War Cemetery , plot 24 , row A , grave 9 . Legacy . Tom Derrick was widely mourned . His widow , Beryl , became prostrate with grief on hearing of his death ; many members of the Army were affected , with one soldier lamenting it felt as if " the whole war stopped " . By the time Derrick ' s death was officially announced on 30 May , most Australians on Tarakan had heard the news and rumours had spread claiming that he had been speared or shot at short range by a sub - machine gun . The Japanese force on Tarakan learned of Derrick ' s death and tried to exploit it for propaganda purposes . They printed a leaflet which began " We lament over the death of Lieutenant General Terick CinC of Allied Force in Tarakan " and later included the question " what do you think of the death in action of your Commander in Chief . . . ? " This leaflet reached few Australian soldiers , and had little impact on them . " Tokyo Rose " also broadcast taunts over " Terick ' s " death . Derrick ' s reputation continued to grow after his death , and many Australian soldiers recalled any association , however slight , they had with him . To many Australians , he embodied the ' ANZAC spirit ' , and he remains perhaps the best - known Australian soldier of the Second World War . Historian Michael McKernan later remarked that , for his war service , Derrick had arguably deserved " a VC and two bars . . . at El Alamein , at Sattelberg and now at Tarakan " . In a 2004 television interview , then Chief of the Australian Defence Force , General Peter Cosgrove , was asked " Who was the best soldier of all time ? " After a short pause , he replied : " Diver Derrick " . This sentiment was endorsed by General Sir Francis Hassett . Hassett — who , as a lieutenant colonel , had served at Finschhafen with II Corps headquarters — stated : Derrick is also remembered for his personal qualities . He was sensitive and reflective . Despite a limited education , he was a " forceful and logical debater , with a thirst for knowledge " . Derrick kept a diary , composed poetry , collected butterflies and frequently wrote to his wife , while on active service . Historian Peter Stanley has compared Derrick ' s leadership abilities with those of Edward ' Weary ' Dunlop , Ralph Honner and Roden Cutler . On 7 May 1947 , Beryl 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 . Derrick ' s Victoria Cross and other medals are now displayed at the Australian War Memorial , Canberra , along with a portrait by Sir Ivor Hele . A street in the neighbouring suburb of Campbell and a rest stop in the Remembrance Driveway between Sydney and Canberra were also named in his honour . In 1995 , a public park was named the Derrick Memorial Reserve on Carlisle St , Glanville in his honour , and his VC citation is displayed on a plaque there . In June 2008 , a newly built bridge over the Port River on the Port River Expressway was named the Tom ' Diver ' Derrick Bridge following a public campaign .