John (Jack) Mackey

By his exceptional bravery and complete disregard for his own life ...His fearless action was an inspiration to the whole battalion and although he was killed, his name is legendary.

[Commander of the 2/3 Pioneer Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander Anderson, NAA: B883, NX20317, National Archives of Australia]

John 'Jack' Mackey, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions during one of World War II's final campaigns. He served in North Africa, New Guinea and Borneo. Jack was killed in Tarakan during action on 12 May 1945.

Early life

Jack was born in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt on 16 May 1922. His parents were Stanislaus 'Stan' Mackey, a baker, and Bridget Catherine 'Biddy' Mackey (nee Smyth). Jack had 3 sisters.

Jack was known for loving adventure and getting lost in comic books. His father recalled how he would often find Jack hiding behind the Leichhardt stadium enjoying his adventure stories and comics undisturbed.

When Jack was 14, the family moved from Sydney to Portland in the state's Central West. As a young adult, Jack worked in his father's bakery but felt the constraints of country town life. His mother died in 1939 and, with the outbreak of war, Jack chose to serve.

In June 1940, he joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), falsely raising his age to be eligible.

War service

After training in Cowra, Jack was posted to the 2/3 Pioneer Battalion. In March 1941, he was sent to Darwin with his unit. The unit was in the Northern Territory for 7 months on garrison duties.

The Pioneer battalions were formed to provide engineering support to infantry divisions in the 2nd AIF. The 2/3 Pioneer battalion served as infantry in many important battles during the war earning multiple battle honours.

In October 1941, Jack's unit embarked from Sydney for the Middle East on the Queen Mary. After training in Egypt and Palestine, the unit joined the 9th Division in the Syria–Lebanon Campaign. The battalion served in the Second Battle of El Alamein from October to November 1942.

In January 1943, Jack returned to Sydney for a period of leave. Afterwards, he joined his unit in Cairns for training in tropical fighting.

Jack embarked for New Guinea in August 1943 with the 2/3 Pioneer Battalion. The battalion served in the Battle of Milne Bay in September, helping to foil a Japanese amphibious landing. They then served at Finschafen in the action to retake the Huon Penisula in late September to early October 1943.

In August 1943, Jack was promoted to Lance Corporal. A year later, in 1944, he was made Corporal. His company commander described him as an outstanding junior leader who exhibited moral and physical courage.

Jack was hospitalised several times with malaria. Malaria was a constant threat to Australian troops in the tropics. It was one of the main causes of sickness.

Killed in action at Tarakan

In April 1945, Jack was sent to Morotai with his unit, and the men landed on Tarakan on 1 May. A small island north-east of Borneo, Tarakan was an important oil producing area. It had been occupied by the Japanese since early 1942.

The battalion was part of Operation Oboe One, an invasion force of around 12,000 Allied troops. The objective was to retake the island of Borneo and the airfield. The overall objective of Oboe operations was to reoccupy the islands of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

Jack and the battalion were part of the bitter Battle of Tarakan. On 12 May 1945, Jack led his section in an attack on a Japanese machine-gun position east of the town of Tarakan.

Corporal Mackey was in charge of a section of the 2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion in the attack on the feature known as Helen, east of Tarakan town. Led by Corporal Mackey the section moved along a narrow spur with scarcely width for more than one man when it came under fire from three well-sited positions near the top of a very steep, razor-backed ridge. The ground fell away almost sheer on each side of the track making it almost impossible to move to a flank so Corporal Mackey led his men forward.

[Citation in the London Gazette on 6 November 1945]

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Jack's section came under heavy fire from 3 well-defended Japanese posts. Jack and Lance Corporal Arthur Reginald Riedy, overran the first post together. But Arthur was severely wounded.

Jack continued charging 2 more posts and was killed in action. His and Arthur's action destroyed the 2 machine-gun posts as intended and allowed the section to gain its objective.

Arthur was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his part in the action. Jack was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross for 'most conspicuous bravery.'

His sister, Patricia, received the Victoria Cross medal on his behalf in November 1945. The Australian War Memorial now holds the medal in its collection.

Victoria Cross citation

The citation in the London Gazette on 6 November 1945 reads:

No. NX.20317 Corporal John Bernard MACKEY, 2nd/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion, Australian Military Forces. For most conspicuous bravery in the face of strong enemy resistance in the attack on the Helen feature at Tarakan on I2th May, 1945-

He charged the first Light Machine-Gun position but slipped and after wrestling with one enemy, bayoneted him, and charged straight on to the Heavy Machine-Gun which was firing from a bunker position six yards to his right. He rushed this post and killed the crew with grenades.

He then jumped back and changing his rifle for a sub-machine-gun he attacked further up the steep slope another Light Machine-Gun position which was firing on his platoon. Whilst charging, he fired his gun and reached with a few feet of the enemy position when he was killed by Light Machine-Gun fire but not before he had killed two more enemy.

By his exceptional bravery and complete disregard for his own life, Corporal Mackey was largely responsible for the killing of seven Japanese and the elimination of two machine-gun posts, which enabled his platoon to gain its objective, from which the Company continued to engage the enemy. His fearless action and outstanding courage were an inspiration to the whole battalion.

[Supplement to The London Gazette No. 37340, 6 November 1945, p 5431]

Commemoration

Jack was buried where he fell. Later, he was reburied at the Labuan War Cemetery in Malaysia.

Jack is commemorated with a rest area near Moss Vale on the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. He is also remembered with a memorial in his hometown of Portland.

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