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7930, Sergeant |
Sergeant
Hinton was born at Colac Bay, Riverton, New Zealand, on 17 September 1909,
and was 31 years old when the action for which he was awarded The Victoria
Cross took place.
The citation from the London Gazette dated 17 October 1941 reads:
"On the night of April 28-29, 1941, during the fighting in Greece, a column of German armoured forces entered Kalamai. This column, which contained several armoured cars, 2-inch guns, 3-inch mortars and two 6-inch guns, rapidly converged on a large force of British and New Zealand troops awaiting embarkation on the beach.
When the order to retreat to cover was given, Sergeant Hinton, shouting "To hell with this, who'll come with me?", ran to within several yards of the nearest gun.
The gun fired, missing him, and he hurled two grenades which completely wiped out the crew. He then came on with the bayonet, followed by a crowd of New Zealanders. German troops abandoned the first 6-inch gun and retreated into two houses.
Sergeant Hinton smashed the window and then the door of the first house, and dealt with the garrison with the bayonet. He repeated the performance in the second house, and as a result, until overwhelming German forces arrived, the New Zealanders held the guns.
Sergeant Hinton then fell with a bullet wound through the lower abdomen and was taken prisoner."
Sergeant Hinton died at Christchurch, New Zealand, on 28 June 1997, and is buried in the Returned Servicemen's Section of the Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Christchurch, New Zealand.
His Victoria Cross is held at the Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand.
The medals awarded to Sergeant Hinton are:
John Hinton's Medals
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