Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Tom Derrick

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by SandyGeorgia 01:08, 4 March 2009 [1].

Tom Derrick[edit]

Nominator(s): Abraham, B.S. (talk)

I am nominating this for featured article because I believe it meets the criteria. Derrick is easily one of the most notable and distinguished Australian soldiers and Victoria Cross recipients of the Second World War. One of my personal heroes, I have been heavily working on his article for the last two months or so and it has been passed as both GA and A-Class by Wikipedia:Wikiproject Military history. Nick-D has also contributed in this endeavour, adding a good proportion of information and input into the "Later war service" and "Legacy" sections, with Roger Davies providing an extremely valuable copy-edit. I am severely grateful to them both for their time, efforts and assistance rendered. Well, any and all comments welcome! Thanks, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 02:41, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comments
    • Is the story about him walking to school in LeFevre apocryphal? Or did his parents move after his birth in Medindie. That would be about 12km back and forth for the round trip...Anyway I find the story that his family was poor but lived in Medindie a bit hard to believe because most houses there are old style and very large - many 2-storey homes on blocks of 1000+ sq m next to the city - usually for public servants, leading officials etc
      • I would say his walking such a distance to school is highly likely. No source I have seen state the family moved, and I know that several people of his generation did traverse such distances to school. Most sources state that the Derrick family was not well off, and you have to remember this was in the 1920's, so the suburb could have been substantially different then. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Is there any reason given in the sources for his conversion? It says he was married in a Catholic church. Was his wife Catholic? I presume there was no benefit to his chances of promotion in that era, more likely a disadvantage to converting.
      • Derrick was not very religious, but, yes, his wife was Catholic so I presume that had something to do with his conversion. I have added a snipet stating that Catholicism was Beryl's belief. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Dabs are all fine but the linkchecker is querying one of them.
      • That is a link to Derrick's service record held by the National Archives of Australia. For some reason, the linkchecker is somewhat weary of the links to the NA—I think this has something to do with the fact that it redirects. However, the link works fine. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Is there any reason why only Australian Rules football is linked but not the others?
      • No particular reason, but the others are more common than AFL. I have linked them all now. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Can the location of Winkie be elaborated on as no link exists?
      • Truthfully, I have no idea where Winkie is except that it is in SA. Would you know, by any chance? Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Googled it. Yes I'll start the stub. YellowMonkey (click here to vote for world cycling's #1 model!) 05:10, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Lol, thanks mate. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 05:14, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Did he meet his wife in Winkie or during a trip back to Adelaide, out of interest?
    • Quote for "bobby dazzler" needs a source moved directly adjacent.
    • Is the Remembrance Highway an unofficial slogan for the Hume Highway? I looked at the website and it did not seem clear. It seems unofficial and if so should be stated as such.
      • The 'Remembrance Driveway' is on the Hume Highway. It's basicly a bunch of memorials, parks, etc that commemorate Australian VC recipients along the Hume Highway. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A great article YellowMonkey (click here to vote for world cycling's #1 model!) 03:45, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for all of your comments, mate. I think I have addressed them all. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 04:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Support YellowMonkey (click here to vote for world cycling's #1 model!) 05:10, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Reference formatting and dab links are up to speed.--TRUCO 04:09, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comments -

  • Per the MOS, link titles in the references shouldn't be in all capitals, even when they are in the original
Otherwise, sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 15:33, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the review. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 20:20, 24 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support As noted in the nomination, I contributed a substantial quantity of text to the article's last two sections, but I think that I'm objective enough to vote and observe that the article meets the FA criteria. Nick-D (talk) 08:02, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support I found that this article is generally informative and helpful and meeting FA criteria but I think you could cover his personal life better for more background information LetsdrinkTea 02:17, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Thanks for the review. I believe, IMHO, that Derrick's personal life—along with certain insights into his thoughts and feelings—have been adequately covered in the text. I have detailed his earlier life as much as I was able in the "Early life" section, and there are snippets of his thoughts, feelings, etc, included throughout the "Second World War" section, and again in the "Legacy" section. Cheers, Abraham, B.S. (talk) 02:39, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support An excellent article on a modern folk hero, detailed, objective, well sourced/illustrated. As ever, a couple of very minor comments/suggestions:
    • Intro: "...where he helped capture Lae" sounds a bit odd to me, as though only two or three blokes were responsible for the whole thing - maybe "fought in the battle to capture Lae" or some such?
      • Lol, I was gaining the same impression but thought I would wait and see what others thought. Have now substituted for your suggestion. Abraham, B.S. (talk) 09:46, 28 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • Citation #38: I know 'bad show' is an expression and might therefore take single inverted commas but if it's a direct quote reckon it should be double - is it a direct quote?
  • That's it - great work! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 09:39, 28 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Image review: all images are verifiably in the public domain or appropriately licensed. Jappalang (talk) 02:39, 2 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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