Fed: Evidence growing that sailor came from Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2007
Fed: Evidence growing that sailor came from Sydney

By Max Blenkin, Defence Correspondent

CANBERRA, Feb 12 AAP - Evidence is growing that a body which drifted ashore on Christmas
Island in 1941 came from the ill-fated cruiser HMAS Sydney.

The skeleton was exhumed from a grave on the island last year and for the past two
months has undergone detailed scientific examination.

Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Billson said an Australian War Memorial (AWM) examination
of a metal fragment in the skull found its composition was consistent with materials used
in German WWII armour-piercing munitions.

This has added weight to the case that the sailor came from the Sydney, sunk in a close
range gun battle with the German mercantile raider Kormoran off the West Australian coast
on November 19, 1941.

All 645 hands were lost in what became Australia's worst naval disaster.

The report of the AWM examination noted that Japanese-manufactured armour piercing
projectiles contained nickel in the early war years. As the war progressed and nickel
became difficult to obtain, the Japanese used copper in the alloy mix.

"As the fragment does not contain either nickel or copper, the AWM has assessed that
the fragment is unlikely to have come from a Japanese manufactured projectile," Mr Billson
said in a statement.

That appears to rule out the sailor coming from a vessel sunk by Japanese forces further north.

Mr Billson said it was unlikely the man could ever be positively identified.

"As with any undertaking of this type, the likelihood of positively identifying the
remains is low," he said.

A liferaft carrying the man's decomposed body drifted ashore on Christmas Island 10
weeks after the sinking and 1,500km distant from the Sydney-Kormoran battle.

He was speedily buried but never forgotten.

A parliamentary inquiry in 1999 concluded he more than likely came from the Sydney
- making him the only member of the ship's company with a known grave.

Mr Billson said a specialist forensic pathologist had been conducting a detailed examination
of the remains, confirming he had been dead for between 50 and 100 years.

Other injuries also have become apparent.

In addition to damage to the front of the skull caused by the metal fragment, there
was a second major injury with bone loss on the left side above and behind the left earhole.

That was believed to have occurred around the time of death, Mr Billson said.

There were multiple rib fractures but it was unknown whether these occurred around
the time of death or much later with the settling of the grave.

Mr Billson said analysis of small items recovered with the remains, including a press
stud and a small piece of fabric, found they were consistent with coming from clothing
worn by sailors in 1941.

AAP mb/sb/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: SYDNEY

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.