OUR HEROES – THEIR STORIES

NX10265 Kevin Vincent Hopkins had an extraordinary life in peace and war. He served with C Company, was only one truck away from being killed or seriously injured in the Liberator crash, saw active service in Papua, New Guinea and Borneo and after the war was awarded the Order of Australia for charity work, and won 47 international medals as a veteran athlete.

He was born in Bega in southern NSW on May 19, 1918, but spent most of his life in Dubbo where he and his wife Agnes Copland did a lifetime of charity work. They had nine children.

As a teenager at Dubbo he also started what eventualy turned out to be a lifetime working with NSW Railways. However, a Military career came first. He joined the 54th Militia Battalion in Dubbo in 1938 and became an N.C.O..

He was about to enlist in the A.I.F. in 1940 when he became ill. This delayed his enlistment until June 1941. He and Agnes married just a few days afterwards.

Before being posted to the 2/33rd Battalion he spent time as a weapons training instructor and underwent an officers’ training course at Duntroon. He eventually joined the battalion after Gona and became the C.S.M. of C Company.

A highly talented athlete and rugby league player, Kevin played on the wing for the Battalion’s first grade team that won the 7th Division championship on the Atherton Tablelands in 1944.

Kevin Hopkins

Kevin was lucky to survive the Liberator crash. He was in the truck next to the five D Company trucks destroyed when the Liberator exploded in flames, Costing the live of 60 2/33rd soldiers. Some C Company men in Kevin’s truck were injured. Kevin served in the Lae-Ramu Valley campaign but missed the battalion’s last action of the war when the NSW Railways Department over rode his promotion to Lieutenant, causing him to be discharged from the Army in March, 1945. He went on to work with the railways for 45 years, mainly as an engine driver. While working on the railways he filled various senior positions with the railway union the A.F.U.L.E., including secretary, president
and State Councillor.

After the war he took an active interest in the Dubbo regional army cadet unit. He led Anzac Day marches at Dubbo for 49 years. He had been an R.S.L. member since 1945.

Kevin was involved in charity work for most of his life, especially through an involvement for more than 65 years with St Vincent de Paul Society. He was Foundation President of the St Vincent de Paul – Ozanam Villa Home for the Aged. During the Depression he travelled by foot and by bicycle to deliver groceries and clothing to the poor living in tents.

When big floods hit the area in 1955 he took two weeks off work without pay to help deliver food and clothing to flood victims. He was a regular visitor to Dubbo Jail where he helped with the rehabilitation of prisoners.

He was a champion athlete, competing in many State, Australian and World veterans’ events. In the World Masters Games in Brisbane in 2007 he won silver medals in the 200 metres steeplechase and 300 metre long hurdles. He set an Australian record in winning the 80-metres short hurdles.

In 2007 in the New South Wales championships he won 11 gold medals and broke the Australian record for long and triple jumps. Over the years he broke 40 Australian records. In 1983 he was he was named Dubbo Sportsman of the Year.