Unknown sailor symbolises entire crew

Antipodean Andy · Nov 19, 2008

Unknown sailor 'symbolises entire crew' | National Breaking News | News.com.au

HIS identity is unknown but one man has come to symbolise the entire crew of HMAS Sydney.
The unknown sailor's reburial was a powerful moment in yesterday's national commemorations to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the Sydney on November 19, 1941.

Sixty-seven years after that fateful day, and six months after the wreckage was finally found, relatives of the crew were among thousands who gathered for a moving sunset service at Sydney's official memorial overlooking the Indian Ocean at Geraldton.

It was the culmination of a series of services to remember the 645 crewmen who perished when HMAS Sydney sunk after a World War II battle with German raider HSK Kormoran.

An at-sea dawn service over the site of the Sydney's final resting place, 207km north-west of Geraldton started the day of remembrance.

Lieutenant John Perryman said the unknown sailor, who was reburied at Geraldton War Cemetery as part of yesterday's events, had become an important symbol for families who lost loved ones on the Sydney.

The sailor's body was buried on Christmas Island in February 1942, but over the past 10 years it was decided he should be reinterred at Geraldton.

"It is Sydney's entire crew that the unknown sailor has come to represent," Lt Perryman said.

For family members, the reburial of the unknown sailor, believed to be the only body ever recovered from HMAS Sydney, finally afforded a sense of closure.

Addressing the sunset service, Governor-General Quentin Bryce said they had come to remember the lives of the crew, not forget.

"To know for the first time but never for the last the shining generous faces of the Sydney sailors, their ready smiles, sanguine youth and camaraderie in troubled times," Ms Bryce said.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said at sunset on November 19, 1941, HMAS Sydney was last seen being torn apart by explosions by German survivors of the HSK Kormoran.

"Sydney of course was sinking beneath the swell, vanishing, not to be seen again for 67 years," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"The discovery of a body in a liferaft... only added to the mystery and the tragedy.

"Were there survivors? Where was the ship? How could this terrible thing happen?"

The discovery of Sydney's wreck in April this year had raised more questions, Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"The Australian Government of course has begun a commission of inquiry in the hope of providing answers to some of those questions.

"But in the end such inquiries and even their answers provide little comfort for those left behind to grieve.

"Though the years have passed by, the numbers have of course dwindled but the memories and indeed the pain live on."

Lifeboats now mark the perimeter of the Sydney crew's watery grave, more than 2000 metres below the ocean's surface.

"It was almost as if they are the markers of sacred ground," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

Former crew members Jack Mahney and Neil Brown travelled to Geraldton to remember lost mates.

Mr Mahney and Mr Brown attended the reburial of the unknown sailor but they had come to remember the entire crew, they said.

Now the ship's final resting place is known, the pair would like to see their mates rest in peace deep in the ocean.
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Unknown sailor symbolises entire crew

Antipodean Andy New Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Unknown sailor symbolises entire crew

Thread Tools

Antipodean Andy New Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches