HMAS Sydney was logging many hours acting as an escort ship. Its latest mission sent it to escort the ship Zealandia, a redesigned merchant ship carrying troops and supplies to offload, at Sumantra. As the Sydney was returning, it was advised to be aware of hostile ships. On November 19, nearly back to Fremantle, it spotted an unidentified cruiser, 20 kms away. It exchanged signals and after many errors and stalling, the signal that it was merely a Dutch Merchant ship seemed in order. The Sydney came closer to investigate. When it was 1000 meters away, the Dutch boat opened fire with concealed artillery weapons and torpedo's. It was actually the German auxiliary cruiser, the Kormoran. While the HMAS Sydney managed to return fire, and scuttle the german raider, it sailed south on fire, and sank, killing all 645 on board. The year was 1941 and the ship has never been found. This is the highest navy death toll in Australian history.
An unknown sailor, lying in a lifeboat, partially decomposed, washes up 2000 kms away onto the shores of Christmas island three months later. His boots have been taken off but otherwise the boat is empty. No handgun, no supplies. He is buried in an unmarked grave and the lifeboat burned. Japanese forces storm the island a short time later occupy until 1945. It appears that at least one man of the 645 which perished survived, for a time. Incredible detective work has narrowed the identity of the man down to three people. DNA testing will be done, to hopefully determine just who this man was.
Sub-Lt King's sister, Helen Blackburne, 84, said yesterday she was shocked to hear the sailor could be her brother.
"I couldn't believe it when they said they may have found him," she said.
"We've never forgotten him. We'd just like to know. It would be wonderful if it were Allen."
Mrs Blackburne's son, Allen, 57, was named in honour of his uncle.
He said news that one of their family could be the sailor was "more than amazing".
"It's completely out of left field," he said.
"Our family has been following the Sydney story for many years. We know the identity of the sailor is yet to be proven, so we are not jumping to conclusions. But it is pretty amazing." Quoted from Sun Herald June 24th 2007
"I couldn't believe it when they said they may have found him," she said.
"We've never forgotten him. We'd just like to know. It would be wonderful if it were Allen."
Mrs Blackburne's son, Allen, 57, was named in honour of his uncle.
He said news that one of their family could be the sailor was "more than amazing".
"It's completely out of left field," he said.
"Our family has been following the Sydney story for many years. We know the identity of the sailor is yet to be proven, so we are not jumping to conclusions. But it is pretty amazing." Quoted from Sun Herald June 24th 2007
Last November, on the second attempt a navy team finally found the grave site. After examination it was determined the man survived for days after the attack. There was an injury to the skull. A bullet to the brain.
If you were an armed soldier sitting in a heaving lifeboat in calm seas, with no food or drinking water, would you wait for death's dark slumber to overtake, or would you end the struggle to live? Did he commit suicide, or was he killed by a surfacing Japanese submarine suspected in aiding the German ship and defeating the HMAS Sydney?
4 comments:
Now that is an allegory. How about a story we can read that isn't on the news. Psam I apologise.
I am absolutely shocked to see someone apologizing to me for insults rendered. Shocked and delighted. Caboolture you made my day, thank you. What I don't know is what it is you're apologizing about, but my best guess is that it's for saying I wouldn't understand the Satanic Verses if I read it. I'd better take this opportunity to return an apology for my own past negative comments and a handshake and no hard feelings.
At the same time I'm a little puzzled as to what it was that you were so distraught about in my last bit of writing on the last post. Most of the people I talk to seem to agree with my thoughts as I was presenting them, so I'd like to know where you found fault.
As to the matter at hand, what a story chankslee, that was an incredible readthrough. I have nothing to offer. I can't imagine killing myself and I also can't imagine finding someone adrift at sea by himself and killing him. It all seems so surreal and impossible. War often turns even the most wonderful people into abominable savages.
Watch Das Boot. It shows the other side of soldiers. There were a lot of heroic men in the German navy, and this movie is a depiction of some of them. They had a good deal of hatred for their government, as any good soldier should, and they knew that if they didn't follow orders their lives could become even worse than they already were. The men depicted in this movie would never have treated a marooned British sailor with anything but the most respect and decency possible. They would have done their utmost to hide the fact that they'd found captives from their government, so they could let them go somewhere safely. Contrary to some people's beliefs, there were men in the German armies of WWII that had this sort of character. As in all military forces though, these characters were the minority.
Well, I read it through too a couple of times.
They say the past is history and the future is mystery.
However, in this case the past is a mystery.
I was wondering..... who would shoot a person in a lifeboat? I was wondering how could that person get shot, then burried in an unmarked grave and then get dug up years later? Who burried him? Was he dead long before being buried or was he shot and then buried? It is a mystery.....
Also is a mystery that he is the only one of 650 that survived the sinking of the boat.
dost donost
Talking about mysteries....
You have heard the song " It's a hard days night"
Well, there is a lot of STUFF floating around that says there is a labour shortage.
I heard today some laborers talking and one of them was saying he wants a two day week! Never heard of such a thing. I thought a week was 7 days and a work week was 5 days. Does not compute with me.
Then I looked on the Vancouver Sun Page and it said something like "skills gap" and something like importing immigrants. So, after years of "raising the bar" and "taking it to the next step" real people in the real country don't have what it takes to fill the gap? We need immigrants that already have what we don't have?
Oh, ya, I forgot, they work for less. Then what is all that STUFF about "skills gap"? Is that just fluff so they can bring in the cheap labour.
I just donost getitoast.
It's a mystery to me........
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