Two Victoria Crosses For Australians

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 266, 10 November 1945, Page 10

Two Victoria Crosses For Australians

CANBERRA, Nov. 9. Two Australians who between them killed 19 Japanese in daring assaults have been awarded the Victoria Cross. They are Corporal J. B. Mackey, of Sydney, and Private L. T. Starcevich, of Western Australia. Both were members of the Ninth Division of the A.I.F. Australians have now won 19 V.C.’s in the Second World War. The award to Corporal Mackey was posthumous. He was in charge of a section in an attack east of Tarakan, Borneo, when he came under fire from three well-sited positions near the top of the ridge. Corporal Mackey charged a light machine-gun position but slipped and fell. Rising, ho wrestled with one Japanese and bayoneted him. He then charged on, to a heavy machinegun in a bunker. After killing the gun crew with grenades he changed his rifle for a sub-machine-gun. He had almost reached another enemy position when he was killed.

Private Starcevich, in the attack which captured Beaufort, North Borneo, moved forward and assaulted each enemy machine-gun post in turn, killing five Japanese and forcing the remainder to flee. The advance was continued until the section came under fire from two more machine-gun posts. Private Starcevich captured both posts single-handed, killing seven more Japanese*