Heathcote Howard (Tack) HAMMER CBE, DSO and Bar, ED, MiD

HAMMER, Heathcote Howard

Service Numbers: 3107396, VX24325
Enlisted: 10 June 1940
Last Rank: Brigadier
Last Unit: 15th Infantry Brigade Headquarters
Born: Southern Cross, Western Australia, 15 February 1905
Home Town: Bendigo, Greater Bendigo, Victoria
Schooling: Ballarat School of Mines
Occupation: Commercial Traveller
Died: Natural causes, Brighton, Victoria, 10 March 1961, aged 56 years
Cemetery: Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne
Memorials:
Show Relationships

World War 2 Service

10 Jun 1940: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Brigadier, 3107396
11 Jun 1940: Enlisted VX24325, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, Broadmeadows, Victoria
28 Nov 1945: Discharged Brigadier, VX24325, 15th Infantry Brigade Headquarters
28 Nov 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Brigadier, 3107396

Help us honour Heathcote Howard Hammer's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography

"Heathcote Howard Hammer (1905-1961), army officer, commercial traveller and storekeeper, was born on 15 February 1905 at Southern Cross, Western Australia, second son of Victorian-born parents William Hammer, miner, and his wife Ada May, née Williams. Educated at the Ballarat School of Mines, Victoria, he took a local job before becoming a commercial traveller. At St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral, Melbourne, on 26 October 1935 he married Mary Frances Morrissey, a clerk; they were to have two children before being divorced in 1955. Having joined the Militia in 1923, he was commissioned in the 8th Battalion in February 1926, transferred to the 17th Light Horse (Machine-Gun) Regiment in 1937 and promoted major in 1939.

'Tack' Hammer was seconded to the Australian Imperial Force in May 1940. He sailed for the Middle East in September and carried out instructional duties in Palestine. His posting as brigade major of the 16th Brigade in March 1941 soon brought him the operational experience he craved. After participating in the disastrous campaign in Greece, his brigade built defences in Syria. In January 1942 he was appointed to command the 2nd/48th Battalion, 9th Division; he led the unit with distinction in the fighting at El Alamein, Egypt, from July. His capture of Trig 29 on 26 October was brilliantly planned and executed. In the last attack launched by the division, on 30-31 October, although Hammer was wounded, he took two German prisoners and, when only forty of his men remained, withdrew this remnant and had them dug-in by dawn. One of his soldiers said of him at El Alamein: 'Tack will do us. He's a soldier and a half'. Hammer was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Returning to Australia in February 1943, he took command of the 15th Brigade in New Guinea in July. Following strenuous operations which led to the capture of Salamaua in September, Brigadier Hammer was given a brief time to rest and train his men at Donadabu before they joined the 7th Division in the Ramu Valley in January 1944. There they took part in the clearing of the Huon Peninsula and entered Madang on 24 April. Hammer was awarded a Bar to the D.S.O. (for Salamaua) and appointed C.B.E. (for the Ramu)..." - READ MORE LINK (adb.anu.edu.au)

Read more...