Sydney 'survivor' exhumed on island (HMAS Sydney - sunk in battle), November 19th 1941)

The Australian ^ | 4th October 2006 | Tony Barrass

[naturalman1975]

THE remains of the unknown sailor believed to be the sole survivor of Australia's most enduring wartime mystery - the sinking of HMAS Sydney off Western Australia - have been unearthed on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

The Defence Department last night confirmed that bones had been discovered in the island's Old European Cemetery by a navy-led team of experts and, once removed, would be taken to Sydney for further forensic tests in an attempt to establish identity.

The discovery is yet another piece to a puzzle that has fascinated and frustrated historians for more than half a century. The find is the only known link to the Sydney, last seen off Shark Bay, before it was believed to have been sunk on November 19, 1941, by the German raider Kormoran.

All 645 men on board perished, making it the biggest maritime disaster in the nation's history.

But it now seems that at least one sailor may have managed to escape the disaster, only to die on a life raft that eventually washed up on Christmas Island, 2600km northwest of Perth, three months later.

The Royal Australian Navy at the time denied that the mystery man was from the Sydney, despite clothing consistent with navy uniform being found on the body.

A doctor examined the remains and the sailor was buried with full military honours.

[Gay State Conservative]

Just curious,naturalman...does Australia have anything that's the rough equivalent of our Arlington National Cemetery and,if so,how does one qualify for internment there?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Thank you for post and I looked up more info.



http://www.navy.gov.au/spc/history/archives/kormoran/kormoran.html

HMAS SYDNEY / KORMORAN DOCUMENTS
The following are images of original documents relating to the HMAS SYDNEY / KORMORAN engagement on 19 November 1941.

These documents were forwarded to Australia by the Admiralty in 1947 and subsequently returned to England. Their actual origin is not clear but they may have been sent to England from Australia during the Second World War.

[Strategerist]

For people not familiar with the Story Kormoran was a German merchant ship that had hidden weapons added - outwardly it appeared like a normal innocent neutral merchantman, but it was pretty heavily armed and also had torpedoes - it and other raiders were designed to raid Allied merchant shipping in out of the way places like the Indian Ocean where ships weren't in convoys.

Normally a cruiser (even a light cruiser like Sydney) would easily defeat it but apparently the Sydney was surprised at close range, got torpedoed, and they both sank each other.

[naturalman1975]

No, Australia has no real equivalent to Arlington, but special measures are certainly taken to honour our war dead, and to honour veterans at their deaths.

Australia has never had a large scale conflict on our own continent - there were minor rebellions in which elements of the British and Colonial forces fought in the nineteenth century, most notably the Castle Hill Rebellion (1804) and the Eureka Stockade (1854), and parts of Australia were both shelled and bombed by the Japanese during the Second World War but most of our war dead have died overseas and until the Vietnam War, it was general practice to inter Australia's fallen near the locations where they fell, and so no great need for a national cemetery has ever developed. When the dead are repatriated to Australia, their families generally decide where they are buried and normally choose a location close to their homes. There are a number of War Cemeteries in Australia (about 70) which were generally specifically established by local communities so the war dead from their regions could lie together.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which is based in London, assisted by the Office of Australian War Graves ensures that our war dead's plots in Australia and overseas are maintained. The OAWG also ensures the graves of Japanese and German prisoners of war who died while imprisoned in Australia, and who are buried here in their own war cemeteries are maintained in a proper and respectful fashion. The known bodies of the only enemy servicemen to have died in action in Australia - the crew of the Japanese midget submarine that attacked ships in Sydney Harbour - were cremated and repatriated to Japan via neutral nations during the war, in honour of their immense courage and devotion to duty.

OAWG ensures that Australian veteran's whose deaths can be linked to their war service are treated as casualties of war and acknowleged and treated as such at their funerals and internments. The Returned & Services League of Australia with the assistance of the Commonwealth Depatment of Veterans' Affairs ensures proper treatment for other veterans.

But most are buried close to their families. The Honours can and will be rendered at any location.

[unkus]

Good question-I'll be watching.

[unkus]

Thank you naturalman.

[Gay State Conservative]

Good question-I'll be watching.

Looks like naturalman gave a pretty thorough answer to my question.I asked it because I thought that the sailor mentioned in his original post might have qualified for burial at this "national cemetery" if it existed.

To naturalman....thanks for your reply.You're an outstanding source of info about Australia's Armed Forces and their brave,proud history.

[unkus]

My dad served with Aussies in India and Burma and had nothing but praise for them.

[naturalman1975]

I should add to my previous post - Australia is absolutely covered in war memorials. Even very small towns and small suburbs of major cities contain their own small memorials.

shows a few of the small ones near where I live.

And there are some simply massive memorials. My favourite, and I believe the best in the country is the Shrine Of Remembrance in Melbourne.

On its side are carved the words:

LET ALL MEN KNOW THAT THIS IS HOLY GROUND. THIS SHRINE, ESTABLISHED IN THE HEARTS OF MEN AS ON THE SOLID EARTH, COMMEMORATES A PEOPLE'S FORTITUDE AND SACRIFICE. YE THEREFORE THAT COME AFTER, GIVE REMEMBRANCE.

At the time the Shrine was being built, Melbourne was serving as Australia's capital and this was a national memorial as well as a state.

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra is the central and current national memorial.

These are the places that I would say are closest to the place in our national heart that Arlington occupies for our friends in America.

[Gay State Conservative]

My dad served with Aussies in India and Burma and had nothing but praise for them.

I'm not surprised.The devotion to duty that the Aussies have shown over the years just makes it all the more surprising that the Kiwis consented to having had their spines surgically removed,thus making them a nation of cowards.

[unkus]

Thanks-tears to my eyes.

[ozzymandus]

Thanks, very interesting.

[naturalman1975]

Whoever the man was, whatever ship he came from, he was virtually certainly a sailor from one of the British Commonwealth's navies - his body was found on a life raft of a type used on His Majesty's Ships.

So whoever he is, he will almost certainly be reinterred with full military honours. If they can identify him, any family will decide where he is buried. If he cannot be identified, a suitable location will be selected.

[SunkenCiv]

I did not add this to the list. This is NOT a Gods, Graves, Glyphs topic, but may be of interest.

[indcons]

Thanks, SunkenCiv.

I am out of town and left the MilHist ping list on my home computer :(

Unfortunately, I can't ping the list on MilHist topics until I get back in about 10 days.

[SunkenCiv]

Have a safe trip! And may I say, it's refreshing to see someone who goes out of town and doesn't take along too many hobbies (unlike me). ;')