The crew member,known as the unknown sailor,was on Friday identified as 21-year-old Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark,from New Farm in Brisbane.
During a brief shore leave,according to word within the family,he had stopped in Brisbane and is understood to have got engaged to his girlfriend. It was not long after that HMAS Sydney sailed on its fateful voyage.
A colourised studio portrait of Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark when he was an Ordinary Seaman on HMAS St Giles.Defence Images
The announcement,following a positive DNA match,was made at the Second World War gallery at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra by Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Andrew Gee with Chief of Navy Vice-Admiral Michael Noonan.
Mr Clark’s niece Leigh Lehane,a retired academic who lives in Canberra,was surprised and saddened to learn her uncle Tom was the unknown sailor. She said it was her half-brother,Colin,who gave the DNA that clinched the result.
She was born in July 1941,the month before her uncle Tom joined HMAS Sydney. According to the family,he met his new niece on a final visit to Brisbane.
Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark’s niece Dr Leigh Lehane.Defence Images
“He came and held me as a little baby. That’s a very pleasurable thought because I don’t think anyone else is alive now who knew Tom sort of eye to eye,” Dr Lehane said.
“To be quite honest,it was a bit upsetting,” she said. “He was in Brisbane on short leave before he joined the Sydney. He became engaged to a Brisbane girl.”
Vice-Admiral Noonan said:“Thomas has lain in an unmarked grave for 80 years. I cannot imagine how Thomas’ family must feel,knowing that,after eight decades,they can close an open chapter of their loved one who was lost all those years ago. They will also have the distinction of heralding his name as one of many that were lost in that fateful action.
Identity of HMAS Sydney's 'unknown sailor' revealed after 80 years
“Thomas did his duty until hope was forlorn. He faced peril and terror on the open sea. He died alone but his memory and legacy endure. After 80 years,we return him the dignity of his name.”
Mr Gee said it was remarkable to learn the sailor’s name,rank and service number 80 years after he was lost.
A Carley float associated with HMAS Sydney recovered from the sea by HMAS Heros on November 27,1941. It is not the one that held the body of the unknown sailor.AWM
Standing in front of a battered Carley float,also recovered from the Sydney,he said:“If you look at that float,it gives you some idea of the ferocity and the trauma and the devastation of that battle.
“I know this is a terribly sad time for Tom’s family. I spoke to Tom’s niece yesterday ... and I think it is fair to say the feelings of the family are mixed. Amidst that anguish and distress is also pride.”
The Last Post Ceremony conducted daily at the AWM to a different member of the armed services will this afternoon be dedicated to Mr Clark,with his niece laying a wreath at the memorial.
HMAS Sydney on which Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark served.Supplied
The German cruiser Kormoran 80 years ago today enticed the Sydney into close range off the west coast of Australia,and was able to overwhelm her with gunfire and torpedoes. The Sydney fought back to ensure the raider’s destruction.
The Sydney lost her crew of 645 including six members of RAAF,four civilians (canteen staff) and six sailors from the Royal Navy. The Kormoran sank with the loss of 82 lives.
Mr Clark’s body,the only one recovered,was washed ashore almost three months later on February 6,1942,in a Carley float on Christmas Island.
He was buried with military honours on Christmas Island but the remains were exhumed in 2006 and bone and dental samples were taken before reinterment at the war cemetery in Geraldton,north of Perth. Since then,exhaustive checks have been made over 15 years,with relatives of crew members asked to provide DNA samples.
TheHerald revealed on Monday that a positive DNA match had been made in recent weeks.
The body,when discovered in the Carley float,was of a white man wearing blue overalls bleached white by the sun.
Mr Clark’s enlistment papers in his war record shows he had blue eyes and fair hair,which is what the early DNA research had indicated.
The granite gravestone at Geraldton,which has always carried the inscription “A SERVICEMAN OF THE 1939 - 1945 WAR HMAS SYDNEY” will be replaced with a new headstone bearing his name by the Office of Australian War Graves.
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