On 23 June 1944 in the Solomon Islands, Corporal Sukanaivalu crawled forward under fire to rescue wounded men. After dragging two men to safety, under heavy Japanese machine gun and mortar fire he returned to rescue another man, but whilst assisting the seriously injured soldier was hit by machine gun fire and fell to the ground. Knowing any attempt to rescue him and the other soldier would result in heavy casualties Sukanaivalu shouted out to his men to leave him. When it was clear they would not withdraw and intended rescuing him, to prevent further casualties Corporal Sukanaivalu deliberately raised himself from the ground to face a Japanese machine gunner and was killed. His citation for the Victoria Cross in the London Gazette dated 2 November 1944 ends with “… This brave Fiji soldier, after rescuing two wounded men with the greatest heroism and being gravely wounded himself, deliberately sacrificed his own life because he knew that it was the only way in which the remainder of his platoon could be induced to retire from a situation in which they must have been annihilated had they not withdrawn.” His body was later recovered by Australian soldiers.
Alan Malcher 