War Memorials in Australia
Thomas Derrick VC Rest Area
Place:
Towrang, New South Wales, 2580
District: Southern
Tablelands
Orientation: Abt 106 km NE of Canberra
Location: Hume Highway, abt 15 km E of Goulburn
Position: 34 44 20 S 149 49 81 E
Ref: 20095
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The memorial is a plaque on a small rock of sandstone near the parking area. The area forms part of the Remembrance Driveway which extends along the Hume and Federal Highways between Sydney and Canberra and adjacent roads. The rest area is approx 15 km East of Goulburn and entered from the south-bound carriageway of the Hume Highway.
The Remembrance Driveway, inaugurated in 1953, was suggested by the Garden Club of Australia and trees were planted in various plantations along the two highways as a national memorial to men and women who served in World War II and the Korean War. In 1954 Queen Elizabeth II planted trees at either end of the new Driveway, a plane tree in Macquarie Place, Sydney and a snow gum in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. It was always intended to have a variety of trees, each selected for its suitability to local soil and climatic conditions. Each of the trees honours a serviceman or woman and some bear a plaque with his or her name.
The rest area is named after Sergeant Thomas Currie Derrick who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 24th November 1943 at Sattleburg, New Guinea. Sergeant Currie was a platoon commander in a company of the 2/48th Infantry Battalion, AIF which was ordered to attack enemy positions near the township. By advancing ahead of his men and throwing grenade after grenade at ten enemy posts he captured ground from which the Battalion was able to move forward and capture Sattleburg.
Bronze plaque on north side of
rock
THIS PORTION OF THE
REMEMBRANCE DRIVEWAY
WAS PLANTED IN 1954 BY
THE GARDEN CLUB
OF GOULBURN
IN MEMORY OF THOSE
SERVICEMEN FROM GOULBURN
AND THE SURROUNDING DISTRICTS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE DEFENCE OF THIS NATION
LEST WE FORGET
Information current to June 2001
Sources: Inglis, K. S., Sacred Places - War Memorials in the Australian Landscape,
Melbourne University Press, Carlton South, 1999
Remembrance Driveway Committee , Remembrance Driveway, W.A. Cooney, Sydney, 1953?