Derrick VC In His Own Words: The Wartime Writings of Australia’s Most Famous Fighting Soldier of World War II edited Mark Johnston

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Tom 'Diver' Derrick VC DCM was Australia's most famous World War II fighting soldier. Derrick fought in five campaigns, won the highest medals for bravery, and died of wounds sustained while leading his men in the war's last stages.

His career reached its climax on the jungle-clad heights of Sattelberg in New Guinea, where he won the Victoria Cross by spearheading the capture of seemingly impregnable Japanese defences.

The diaries Derrick kept throughout his campaigns, from Tobruk to Tarakan, are among the most important writings by any Australian soldier. Those diaries and all his other known wartime correspondence and interviews are published here for the first time in their entirety. Diver had only a rudimentary education, but his intelligence, humour, ambition and fighting outlook shine through his words. (back cover)