The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (19480) Stoker Allan Ridley Morton Buchanan, HMAS Sydney, Royal Australian Navy, 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 (19480) Stoker Allan Ridley Morton Buchanan, HMAS Sydney, Royal Australian Navy, Second World War.

19480 Petty Officer Stoker Allan Ridley Morton Buchanan, HMAS Sydney (II)
KIA 20 November 1941
Photograph: P09175.002

Story delivered 19 November 2013

Today we remember Petty Officer Stoker Allan Ridley Morton Buchanan, and the ship's company of HMAS Sydney (II), 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, Sydney was commissioned into the RAN in 1935 with a mixture of ages and experiences on board.

Allan Buchanan was born in 1908 in Carlton, Victoria. His father, Donald Buchanan, had served with the infantry on Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the Great War. Donald Buchanan's brother and father also served in the Great War.

Following this tradition of service, Allan Buchanan enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in December 1929. On 27 May 1933 he married Enid Quinn and in August 1934 the couple had their only child, a son named Allan.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Buchanan was posted to HMAS Sydney in October 1939. Soon afterwards, Sydney was one of several Australian warships sent to the Mediterranean. Here the Australian cruiser demonstrated its fighting prowess, sinking the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the battle of Cape Spada in July 1940. When Sydney returned home to Australia in February 1941 it received a hero's welcome.

On 19 November 1941 Sydney was steaming back to Fremantle, Western Australia. At about 4 pm the cruiser spotted a suspicious merchant vessel and set off to investigate. By 5.30 pm, Sydney had nearly pulled alongside the vessel when it revealed its true identity as a German raider.

Hoisting its German naval ensign, Kormoran opened fire with its guns and torpedoes. Kormoran's first salvo slammed into Sydney's bridge. Sydney returned fire, but Kormoran's second and third salvos again hit Sydney's bridge and amidships. Sydney's three main turrets were soon out of action, but a fourth kept up fast and accurate fire that hit Kormoran'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.

The crippled 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 Sydney, now only a distant glow on the dark horizon, disappear into the night. By midnight Sydney was gone, lost with all 645 hands, including Buchanan. He was 33 years old.

Sydney's loss was one of the enduring Australian mysteries of the war. Countless rumours, speculations, and conspiracy theories have swirled around the ship's fate. It was not until 2008, after more than six decades and many searches, that the wrecks of Sydney and Kormoran were finally located.

Petty Officer Stoker Allan Buchanan is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain. His name is also listed here, on the Roll of Honour on your right, along with some 40,000 other Australians who died during the Second World War.

We now remember Petty Officer Stoker Allan Buchanan, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.