Afrikakorps cuff title captured by Tom Diver Derrick VC DCM AIF Sx7964 2nd48th bat.

[TOBRUK]

This is the most important find in my life as a collector of AIF memorabilia.
It was given to me today by a relative of Toms, who ended up with all his bring backs from the Middle East. They have been in storage for over 70 years.
Tom Derrick was the Australian Audie Murphy, this countries most famous soldier.
My Grandfather fought with Tom, and spoke very highly of him, as both a man, and a soldier. I thought it was very important to share this find with fellow collectors.
I have included some info on Tom for anyone interested. Please contact me if you would like to know more.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Cheers, Ade.

[4md]

wow, this just blew me away! My grandfather was in the 2/48th so its great to see any item from this battalion. i just borrowed his copy of diver derricks biography to read and i just finished the 2/48th battalion history, tobruk to tarakan.
regards paul

[TOBRUK]

Thank you Adrian, i am on cloud nine at the moment, and thought it was an important find worth sharing.
It is not so much the cuff, but the history behind it.

[TOBRUK]

Hello Paul, i have been doing an in depth study on the 2/48th for the last 25 years. I would like very much to hear more about your Grandfather, if you would like to contact me privately, that would be great. This chap still has the famous DAK flag you may have seen in your Grandfathers photos. Tom sent the flag back with his other captured items. It is massive, and only has a single hole in it. I shall include a photo of the 48th blokes holding it.

[Paul D]

What a wonderful item with provenance to such a man as Tom Derrick , as you say a find that it will be hard to better

regards

Paul

[4md]

gday i sent you a pm........would love to see some photos of that flag what a beauty!

[AIF]

WOW!! Now that is amazing!! You are one VERY lucky man indeed to have somthing that belonged to the great Tom Derrick I bet nothing else you will ever own will come anywhere near to being as cool as this!!

Two of my great uncles both served in C company 14 platoon 2/48th Batt

WX26700 Sapper Alexander William (Bill) Jeffery
WX26699 private Owen Robert Prosser

Note their service numbers are one digit apart, but on the records they enlisted 10 days apart, according to my Grandfather (Bills younger brother) they didnt even know each other at the time and it wasnt until years later that my Grandfather met my grandmother (Owens younger sister) and they got married, I was talking to him not long ago about this and I mentioned to him what a coincidence this was, and he replied by saying thats not the half of it, when Bill was wounded by a Japanese grenade at Tarakan he was pinned down by Japanese machine gun fire and couldnt move, he had been hit pretty badly in the face with shrapnel and had lost his vision, Owen was the bloke that braved the incoming fire and grabbed him and saved his life!! crazy stuff

heres a link to a picture on the AWM of them at Ravenshoe 1945

Australian War Memorial - 087988

Sorry to Hi jack the thread mate but I thought I would share this with you as you are interested in the unit

I also have a set of dogtags to SX19342 Lenard Robert Barltrop who also served in the 2/48th

[TOBRUK]

Hello AIF, thanks for your reply. That is amazing info, i shall do some further research on these names and try for some period photos.
I have had another lucky break, just when i thought my luck could not get any better, and found Toms personal scrapbook. It blew me away to know he had put this together himself. I assume for his wife, or yet to be children.
I do not think that anything will ever beat the feeling of holding this gem.
I shall attach a few pages.

[AIF]

And again wow!! you are very lucky indeed, and mate If you do come across any info or pics of my uncles could you let me know, Id be very greatfull I only have a family picture of Owen with his older brother Laurie 2/16th batt and his two sisters who were also in the AWAS all in uniform, Im going order a copy of the picture I posted early of the boys at Ravenshoe and the AWM also have a pic of Owen's older brother Laurie at Borneo giving his mate who had just been shot by a Japanese sniper a drink from his canteen.