The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1322) Able Seaman Walter Vivian Johnston, 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. Hosted by Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (1322) Able Seaman Walter Vivian Johnston, HMAS Goorangai, Second World War.

1322 Able Seaman Walter Vivian Johnston, HMAS Goorangai
Accidentally killed, 20 November 1940
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 2 February 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Able Seaman Walter Vivian Johnston of the Royal Australian Navy.

Walter Johnston was born on 24 January 1921 in Footscray, Victoria, to Walter and Elizabeth Johnston. Very little is known of his early life except that he was employed at the tannery in Footscray and was a member of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve. Following the outbreak of the Second World War Walter reported for active duty and was posted to HMAS Goorangai. This vessel had been a fishing trawler in peacetime, but when war started she was taken over by the Navy Board and fitted out for minesweeping.

In early November 1940 a British ship and an American freighter were lost in quick succession in the Bass Strait to German mine-laying operations. HMAS Goorangai was one of a number of minesweepers sent to locate and destroy the mines. Following that operation it 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 it was hit by an outbound merchant ship and torn almost in half. A crewman on the merchant ship 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 Walter Johnston, were never recovered, and the wreck of the minesweeper was blown up to clear the channel. Walter was just 18 years old.

The names of Walter Johnston and the crew of HMAS Goorangai are listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with more than 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 Able Seaman Walter Vivian Johnston, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

Sources:
“Details of ship”, Argus (Melbourne), 22 November 1940, p. 5.

“Trawler Goorangai lost in collision”, Barrier Miner, 22 November 1940, p. 6.

“Details of disaster: stories of eye-witnesses”, Kalgoorlie Miner, 22 November 1940, p. 4.

“Goorangai sunk: passengers heard cries of sweeper’s crew”, The Argus (Melbourne), 22 November 1940, p. 5.

“No body recovered from Goorangai”, Barrier Miner, 22 November 1940, p. 3.

“Body recovered from Goorangai identified”, Advocate (Tasmania), 23 January 1941, p. 6.

“The Goorangai”, Townsville Daily Bulletin, 22 January 1941, p. 2.