The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (S4746) Stoker William Roy Chapman, 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 (S4746) Stoker William Roy Chapman, HMAS Sydney (II), Second World War.

S4746 Stoker William Roy Chapman, HMAS Sydney (II)
KIA 20 November 1941

Story delivered 30 November 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Stoker William Roy Chapman and the ship’s company of HMAS Sydney (II), who were lost after engaging the German surface raider Kormoran in 1941.

William Roy Chapman was born on 3 December 1920 in Stoke-On-Trent in Staffordshire, England, one of three children born to William and Harriet Chapman. The Chapman family immigrated to Australia and came to live in Willoughby, on Sydney’s North Shore.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, 19 year old William Chapman enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy on 18 October 1940.

Chapman was first posted to the navy depot HMAS Rushcutter at the Sydney harbour side suburb of Rushcutter Bay. In mid-November 1940 he was posted to HMAS Cerberus, the navy’s training establishment south of Melbourne, on Western Port Bay. He remained at Cerberus for just over three months.

Chapman was posted to Sydney on 21 October 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 a mixture of ages and levels of experiences on board.

Following the outbreak of the war, Sydney was one of several Australian warships sent to the Mediterranean, where it had demonstrated its fighting prowess sinking the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the battle of Cape Spada on 19 July 1940. In February 1941 Sydney returned home to Australia, where it received a hero’s welcome.

For much of the year the cruiser was engaged in escort duties that took it to the Netherlands East Indies, Singapore, Noumea, Auckland and Suva.

On 19 November 1941 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 which suddenly revealed its true identity as a German raider.

Hoisting its German naval ensign, Kormoran fired its guns and torpedoes. Its first salvo slammed into Sydney’s bridge. The Australian cruiser returned fire, but the raider’s second and third salvos hit Sydney’s bridge and amidships. Its 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, continuing 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 William Chapman. He was 20 years old.

William Chapman is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain. His name also appears on the Roll of Honour on your right, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in 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 Stoker William Roy Chapman, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Karl James
Historian, Military History Section