[Editor: This article by Frank Browne, regarding Tom Derrick (1914-1945), was published in the Border Morning Mail (Albury, NSW), 4 June 1945.]
Where to bury a hero?
(By Frank Browne)
Australia’s supreme infantryman of this war sleeps in the oily, blood-soaked soil of Tarakan.
Some of my friends think that his body should be brought back to Australia and buried in some suitable place — to be an inspiration to the nation.
I wonder where we might best bury a hero?
Almost anywhere in the country that he loved — fought for — and finally died for, would be a fitting place for a hero to sleep.
Perhaps in some quiet grassy spot in the Murray Valley, where once he lived and worked in the days before the red god’s distant call; perhaps overlooking the sea — where his crisp, clean strokes and neat diving had earned him his nickname, “Diver.” Perhaps in the shade of a tree, where once he had relaxed with a smoke, or boiled a noon-day billy. Perhaps by the willows near the river — where sometimes he used to sit at dusk.
There are good places — well-remembered places — in life or death. One of them might have been in his thoughts just before the silence claimed him.
Yet it is a small matter. For if a man be well remembered, it does not matter if he sleeps on hill or plain — by sea or in green fields — it is all one to him, and all one to those left behind him, if memory lives.
Yet there is one best place to bury a hero. If we bury him in this spot — Tom will never be far away — even though 10,000 miles of sea and land be between. From this place the dauntless spirit of the man will come bounding over the grim, dim frontiers of death, at a comrade’s call. In this place Tom Derrick will be as much alive — striding down the road with us as he was that Satelberg day when he became part of history.
From this place Tom Derrick will come to inspire his fellow Australians now — and in the days to come. To teach them tolerance, and the love of country that was his — and to lead them towards an ideal of peace. Towards the day when a generation will no longer have to send out its young and fine — to die that a country might live.
Yes, there is one best place to bury a hero. That place is deep in the hearts of his fellow countrymen.
Source:
Border Morning Mail (Albury, NSW), 4 June 1945, p. 2
Also published in:
The Orange Leader (Orange, NSW), 6 June 1945, p. 4
Portland Guardian (Portland, Vic.), 7 June 1945, p. 4
Beaudesert Times (Beaudesert, Qld.), 8 June 1945, p. 1
Forbes Advocate (Forbes, NSW), 8 June 1945, p. 4
Narromine News and Trangie Advocate (Narromine, NSW), 8 June 1945, p. 4
The Times & Northern Advertiser (Peterborough, SA), 8 June 1945, p. 1
The Lithgow Mercury (Lithgow, NSW), 11 June 1945, p. 4 (Town Edition)
The Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA), 14 June 1945, p. 1 [includes a photo: “The burial of Lt. T. C. Derrick, VC, DCM, on Tarakan”]
Note: The same photo was also published in: The Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld.), 19 June 1945, p. 4 [not accompanying the article by Frank Browne]
Editor’s notes:
The photograph of the burial of Tom Derrick was not published with the article in the Border Morning Mail on 4 June 1945, but it did accompany the article when it was published in The Murray Pioneer on 14 June 1945; however, a slightly better copy of the photo was published in The Queensland Times on 19 June 1945, which has been used here.
Alamein = El Alamein [see: El Alamein]
DCM = Distinguished Conduct Medal: a medal awarded for “distinguished, gallant and good conduct in the field” (the medal was awarded to soldiers below commissioned rank in the military forces of the British Commonwealth)
El Alamein = a town in northern Egypt, located on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; the area was the site of two major battles (in July 1942 and October-November 1942) during World War Two (1939-1945)
See: 1) “El Alamein”, Wikipedia
2) “First Battle of El Alamein”, Wikipedia
3) “Second Battle of El Alamein”, Wikipedia
Satelberg = (also spelt: Sattelberg) [see: Sattelberg]
Sattelberg = a village on the Huon Peninsula (Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea); the area was the site of the Battle of Sattelberg (November 1943) during World War Two (1939-1945)
See: 1) “Sattelberg”, Wikipedia
2) “Battle of Sattelberg”, Wikipedia
Tarakan = an island off the north-east coast of Borneo (in Kalimantan, that part of Borneo which belongs to Indonesia); the island was the site of the Battle of Tarakan (May-June 1945), during World War Two (1939-1945), when Tarakan belonged to the Dutch East Indies; the city of Tarakan, on the island of Tarakan (in the province of North Kalimantan, Indonesia)
See: 1) “Tarakan”, Wikipedia
2) “Battle of Tarakan (1945) ”, Wikipedia
3) “File:Tarakan Island map marked with locations relevant to the 1945 Battle of Tarakan.png”, Wikipedia
Tom Derrick = Thomas Currie Derrick (1914-1945), commonly known as “Tom” or “Diver”, a vineyard worker and soldier; he fought in Egypt and New Guinea during World War Two (1939-1945), was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Sattelberg (New Guinea) in 1943, was badly wounded in the fighting around a hill code-named Freda (in 1945) on the island of Tarakan (in the Dutch East Indies, now part of Indonesia), and shortly afterwards died of his wounds; he was born in Medindie (Adelaide, SA) in 1914, and died at Tarakan in 1945
See: 1) Bill Gammage, “Thomas Currie (Tom) Derrick (1914–1945)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Tom Derrick”, Wikipedia
3) Dr Peter Stanley, “Borneo 1942-1945”, Anzac Portal, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
4) “File:Tarakan Island map marked with locations relevant to the 1945 Battle of Tarakan.png”, Wikipedia [includes the location of Freda]
VC = Victoria Cross: a medal awarded for conspicuous acts of bravery in wartime (it is the highest military decoration which can be awarded in the military forces of the British Commonwealth)
See: 1) “Victoria Cross”, Wikipedia
2) “Victoria Cross for Australia”, Wikipedia
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