Bullet in HMAS Sydney survivor's skull

FORENSIC pathologists have removed a bullet from the skull of a skeleton that researchers are now confident was a sailor from the doomed HMAS Sydney.

They also believe the remains, exhumed from Christmas Island earlier this month during a navy-led expedition, are not those of Sydney crewman Tom McGowan, whose younger brother Ted was pivotal in getting the search party off the ground.

It is now almost certain that the remains are those of the so-called "unknown sailor", a HMAS Sydney crewman who was washed up in a Carley float on Christmas Island in February 1942, almost three months after the light cruiser was sunk off Carnarvon by the German raider Kormoran. All 645 sailors perished in what remains Australia's worst maritime disaster.

In yet another twist to the enduring wartime mystery, Sydney University researchers this week discovered a bullet entry wound when they were examining the skull.

They then found a small-calibre round embedded in the bone. The bullet is undergoing examination to establish its origins. It is believed to have been fired from a low-velocity weapon, most probably a handgun.

I think that sounds like the simplest and most likely explanation.

There is a conspiracy theory that a Japanese sub assisted the Germans and possibly killed the Australian survivors but I think that if you would bother to kill survivors why leave the body in a float? I could see if the round was a machine gun or rifle round (suggesting they gunned them down as they floated in the water and sailed away) but it looks like they think it was a pistol round.

http://www.hmassydney.com.au/hmassydney.html

HMAS Sydney II

On November 19, 1941, the cruiser HMAS Sydney (eight 6 inch guns and eight 21 inch torpedo tubes), was commanded by Captain Joseph Burnett, RAN, and approximately 150 miles south-west of Carnarvon, W.A., and steaming on a southerly course to Fremantle, W.A.

About 5.30 p.m (WA time). she sighted a merchant vessel about 12 miles range. As the range closed Sydney tried to ascertain the stranger’s identity. After confused signalling the other ship identified herself as the Dutch ship Straat Malakka. She was actually the disguised German raider Kormoran (six 5.9 inch guns and six 21 inch torpedo tubes).

When the HMAS Sydney ordered her to make her secret call sign, the German Captain, Commander Theodor Detmers, realised he could not bluff his way clear and had no alternative but to fight.

At 6.30 p.m (WA time)., Kormoran unmasked her guns and opened a devastating fire on the Australian cruiser, simultaneously hitting her with a torpedo.

The Sydney was soon ablaze with her forward turrets wrecked. However, her after guns returned a short but effective fire, hitting the Kormoran in the engine room and causing a fire that eventually was to prove fatal to the raider. Down by the bow, she turned as if to ram the German ship or to bring her starboard torpedo tubes to bear. She passed close astern of Kormoran and narrowly missed her with a salvo of torpedoes. All the time she was under fire from the raider’s guns.

She limped off into the evening well ablaze and her glare could be distinguished until 11 p.m (WA time). after which only occasional flickerings could be seen and these had vanished by midnight. Meanwhile, Kormoran’s crew had abandoned ship and the raider blew up at 1.30 a.m (WA time). Seventy-eight of Kormoran’s complement of 393 were lost. The survivors were picked up by other ships or reached the West Australian coast.

None of Sydney’s 645 men survived.

Information supplied by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, A.C.T.

There is a conspiracy theory that a Japanese sub assisted the Germans and possibly killed the Australian survivors

Always struck me as complete nonsense, and like most lame conspiracy theories, the motivation behind it is pretty clear - from what we know of the sinking, it's pretty clear the captain of the Sydney really, really, really messed up and the whole thing was an embarassing mistake - some Australians would like to believe in a devious conspiracy instead.

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