The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (24377) Stores Assistant Francis Joseph Mitchell, 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 Charis May, the story for this day was on (24377) Stores Assistant Francis Joseph Mitchell, HMAS Sydney (II), Second World War.

24377 Stores Assistant Francis Joseph Mitchell, HMAS Sydney (II)
KIA 20 November 1941
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 20 January 2015

Today we remember Stores Assistant Francis Joseph Mitchell 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, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1935, its company comprising a mixture of ages and experiences.

Francis Joseph Mitchell was born in Albert Park, Melbourne, on 27 March 1919, one of six children (five boys and one girl) born to Francis and Margaret Mitchell. Young Francis was educated at St Patrick’s College and worked as a chemist’s assistant and mail sorter before joining the navy in May 1940, two months after his 21st birthday. He was tall, more than six-foot-two, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a fresh complexion. One of his brothers also joined the navy.

After completing his initial training at HMAS Cerberus, Mitchell was posted to Sydney in late March 1941, just after the cruiser’s return from the Mediterranean.

On 19 November, 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 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 Mitchell. He was 22 years old.

Mitchell is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain.

His name is also 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 service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Stores Assistant Francis Joseph Mitchell, the crew of HMAS Sydney (II), and all of those
Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Dr Karl James
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
Mitchell, Francis Joseph service record, National Archive of
Australia (NAA), Canberra: A6770

Mitchell F J; “Victorians in HMAS Sydney”, The Argus
(Melbourne), 1 December 1941

G. Hermon Gill, Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942 (Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957)

Karl James, “Gallant fighter”, Wartime, no. 43, 2008, pp. 36-40.