The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (24366) Supply Assistant Gordon Stuart Walsh, HMAS Sydney (II), Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (24366) Supply Assistant Gordon Stuart Walsh, HMAS Sydney (II), Second World War.

24366 Supply Assistant Gordon Stuart Walsh, HMAS Sydney (II)
KIA 20 November 1941
Photograph: P05212.006

Story delivered 3 March 2016

Today we remember Supply Assistant Gordon Stuart Walsh and the ship’s company of HMAS Sydney (II), who were lost after engaging the German surface raider Kormoran in 1941.

A modified Leander-class light cruiser, Sydney was armed with eight 6-inch guns and was the pride of the Royal Australian Navy. Built in England, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1935 with its company sporting a mixture of ages and experiences.

Gordon Stuart Walsh was born in Glenelg, a beachside suburb of Adelaide, on 4 February 1923. He was the elder son of John and Gertrude Walsh (nee Weathers), who had had two brothers killed in Great War: Trooper Thomas Weathers, killed on Gallipoli, and Corporal Lawrence Weathers, awarded the Victoria Cross in 1918.

Gordon Walsh attended Glenelg School and Sacred Heart College Glenelg. Although he studied commercial subjects at school he was always keen to join the navy, and sent his application papers the day before his 17th birthday. Three months later, on 21 May 1940, he enlisted.

Walsh was posted to HMAS Cerberus, the navy’s training establishment south of Melbourne, on Western Port Bay, as a probationary supply assistant second class. He remained there for several months, and on his 18th birthday in February 1941 was promoted to supply assistant. In late March he was posted to HMAS Sydney following the cruiser’s celebrated tour in the Mediterranean.

During much of 1941 the Sydney was engaged in escort duties off the Australian coast, travelling to the Netherlands East Indies and Singapore as well as Noumea, Auckland, and Suva before returning to Western Australian waters.

On 19 November the Sydney was steaming back to Fremantle, having escorted a troopship part of the way to Singapore. At about 4 pm the cruiser spotted a suspicious merchant ship and decided to investigate. By 5:30 pm Sydney had almost drawn alongside the vessel when it suddenly revealed its true identity as a German raider.

Hoisting the German naval ensign, Kormoran opened fire with its guns and fired torpedoes. Its first salvo slammed into Sydney’s bridge. The Australian cruiser returned fire, but Kormoran’s second and third salvos again hit Sydney’s bridge and amidships. The cruiser’s three main turrets were soon out of action, but a fourth kept up fast and accurate fire that hit the raider’s funnel and engine room. Sydney, in turn, was hit by a torpedo between turrets. Mortally damaged and ablaze, Sydney turned away from the raider but continued to fight, using its secondary armament and torpedoes.

Kormoran was also burning. At 6.25 pm its captain gave the order to abandon ship. As the German sailors evacuated their stricken vessel, they watched the Australian cruiser, now only a distant glow on the dark horizon, disappear into the night. By midnight, Sydney was gone, lost with all 645 hands, including Walsh. He was 18 years old.

Gordon Walsh is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain. His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among around 40,000 others from the Second World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Supply Assistant Gordon Stuart Walsh, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Karl James,
Historian, Military History Section