The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (PM2485) Steward Bruce Buchanan, HMAS Goorangai, 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. The story for this day was on (PM2485) Steward Bruce Buchanan, HMAS Goorangai, Second World War.

PM2485 Steward Bruce Buchanan, HMAS Goorangai
Accidentally killed 20 November 1940
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 28 June 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Steward Bruce Buchanan of the Royal Australian Navy.

Bruce Buchanan was born on 23 June 1914 in Daylesford, Victoria, son of George and Ruby Buchanan. He was married to Marie and was a member of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve. Very little else is known about his life except that he was called up to active duty soon after the war began.

Buchanan was posted to HMAS Goorangai. This vessel had been a fishing trawler in peacetime, but when the war started she was taken over by the Navy Board and fitted out for minesweeping. Warrant Officer David McGregor, who had captained her in peacetime and was also a member of the Naval Reserve, remained captain of the Goorangai in her new role.

In early November 1940 a British ship and an American freighter were lost in quick succession Bass Strait to German mine-laying operations. HMAS Goorangai was one of a number of minesweepers sent to locate and destroy the mines. After two weeks on that operation the Goorangai returned to Queenscliff, but a rising storm sent the ship to the safer harbour of Portsea.

As the Goorangai passed in darkness through the dangerous rip at the mouth of Port Philip Bay she was hit by an outbound merchant ship and torn almost in half. A crewman on the ship that hit the Goorangai reported: “In the short time it took me to run along the promenade deck to the rail by the bridge the Goorangai had disappeared. There was not a sound but the crash of water.” In that moment in between, some eyewitnesses heard men calling for help, but could do little for them. Floatation devices were thrown out into the darkness and lifeboats deployed immediately, but despite a long search no survivors or bodies were found. The minesweeper had sunk almost immediately with all hands still on board.

Over the following weeks diving operations recovered the bodies of five of the crew. The remaining 19, including that of Bruce Buchanan, were never recovered and the wreck of the minesweeper was blown up to clear the channel.

After 15 months of war HMAS Goorangai was the first vessel of the Royal Australian Navy to be lost in the Second World War, and the first surface vessel of the RAN to be lost in wartime at all. Bruce Buchanan was sadly missed by his family. He was 26 years old.

The names of Bruce Buchanan and the crew of HMAS Goorangai are listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 others from the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Steward Bruce Buchanan, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.