Sapper Ken Hickey of the 2/1 Fortress Engineers was one of the real heroes of Sparrow Force. Alongside Malcolm Livingstone, they manned a Lewis machine gun at an exposed intersection during a rearguard and gunned down more that 75 advancing elite Japanese paratroopers. For that act of bravery, the two were awarded the Military Medal. Check out his records in the comments of the post below:
Melissa and Luke Rackhick said:
My Dad was Ken Hickey @/1 Fortress Engineers. After all this time my siblings and I are still seeking the fine details of his service. Hoping to go to C/brra in May and look through the AWM records. I have some stuff I put together about Dad if anyone would like me to post it or send it.
Grant McLachlan replied:
You don't need to go to Canberra. All three files about Ken are digitized, including his commendation and his enlistment photos. Here are the links: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4879509 http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1035281 http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=32137620 He was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery operating a Lewis gun with Livingston in an exposed position near Babau. I'll send you their mention in my book. My website is here: www.sparrowbook.com
Also, visit the archives on my site where Ken also gets a mention in Leggatt's official report: http://www.sparrowbook.com/#!sparrow-force-documents/c23fd
