"John Daniel Hinton was one of the first New Zealanders to volunteer for service when war was declared on Germany in September 1939 ... "Jack Hinton V.C." includes details from Army records and the recollections of Jack and those who knew him, served with him, and were prisoners of war. After Army training, Jack Hinton was posted with 20 Battalion to the Middle East and later to Greece, where he won his V.C. leading an attack against German forces at the port of Kalamata. Wounded and captured he was hospitalised and imprisoned in Greece before being transferred to prisoner of war camps in Germany. He escaped twice but on both occasions was recaptured and remained a prisoner until the end of the war. Gabrielle McDonald also describes Jack Hinton's childhood in Southland, his joining and Antarctic bound whaling ship at the age of twelve and his subsequent employment as a farm hand, racehorse trainer, salesman, swagman, gold prospector and Public Works Department manager. After the war Jack worked as a publican [and later retired in Christchurch]" -- Back cover.