Medals of memories

By Tania Martin
FOR Thomas Jackson, words could not describe the feeling of having his war medals returned in time for Anzac Day.
There was little left of the former Monbulk man’s WWII medals following the Black Saturday fires.
They were kept at his daughter Jennifer Barton’s Marysville house for safe keeping.
But in a twist of fate they where destroyed when the Bartons lost their home in the February fire.
Mr Jackson, 82, was hit with emotion last week after receiving replacement medals where he now lives at the Lilydale Nursing Home in Anderson Street.
But he’s still holding on to the original ones.
His son-in-law David Barton said Mr Jackson had been able to get replacement medals rather than replicas because he was still alive.
“We were able to get the original medals made up with Tom’s name and serial number on them,” Mr Barton said.
Mr Jackson proudly wore his medals again last week as he remembered his mates who never made it home.
“I am glad to have the medals back. They were always special… they bring back memories,” said the former Macclesfield Road resident.
“I wouldn’t have been able to wear the other ones.”
Mr Jackson joined the armed forces in 1940 and got his first taste of war.
But he was luckier than most.
“When I first stepped foot in the desert I was 22 years old, and I said to myself if I make it to 23 then I’ll be all right,” he said.
“And I made it through the lot without even a scratch.”
Mr Jackson was one of the few Rats of Tobruk who made it home alive.
In April 1941, the garrison at Tobruk in Libya came under fire as the Germans attempted to take the north African port in a battle that would last more than 242 days.
During that time the diggers were said to be ‘caught like rats in a trap’ by Radio Berlin.
This was an attempt to undermine the soldiers’ moral but it just strengthened their resolve.
In the end the Australian troops fondly referred to themselves as the rats of Tobruk.
After making it through the battle of Tobruk, Mr Jackson was sent into the jungles of New Guinea.
He remembered a time in New Guinea when he refused to go back into the jungle to rescue a telephone.
“We were out on patrol and the Japanese had come up on both sides of us… we shot through and never disconnected the phone,” Mr Jackson said.
“We got back to camp late afternoon and our company commander was told to tell us to go and get the phone.”
“But common sense is that you can’t walk around the jungle in the middle of the night with all the Japanese floating around, so we refused to go. They could have the phone for all I cared,” he said.
When Mr Jackson returned home to Australia after the war he vowed never to step foot outside the country again and has lived up to that.
For full Anzac Day wrap-up, see page 10.