The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Commander Lionel Sydney Dalton DSO, RAN, 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 Tristan Rallings, the story for this day was on Commander Lionel Sydney Dalton DSO, RAN, HMAS Sydney (II), Second World War.

Commander Lionel Sydney Dalton DSO, RAN, HMAS Sydney (II)
KIA 20 November 1941

Today we remember and pay tribute to Commander Lionel Sydney Dalton.

Lionel Dalton was born on 26 October 1902 in the Melbourne suburb of Middle Park, the son of Edward and Nancie Dalton. He grew up in Middle Park and attended Middle Park State School.

When the First World War began, young Lionel was keen to play his part. With parental permission, he joined the Royal Australian Navy in late December 1915 at the age of 13. At the start of January 1916 he was sent to the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay as a cadet midshipman.

While Dalton was reasonably good academically, he excelled on the sports field, winning colours for cricket and rugby union. He soon gained a reputation as a “good all-rounder who was prepared to have a go”.

Throughout his career, Dalton’s superiors were impressed with him personally and in his role as an engineer officer. In many of his reports it was noted that he “always took a great interest in his work”, “was tactful”, “displayed good social qualities”, and “took part in all ship-board activities”. As he rose through the ranks, he was noted for taking a great interest in the welfare of his men.

At the end of his course he was promoted to midshipman and posted to HMAS Australia. In January 1921 Dalton was loaned to the Royal Navy for service and training. Over the next three years he served on a number of different ships and by December 1924, he had been promoted to lieutenant. After graduating from the Royal Navy’s engineering college he returned to Australia at the end of the 1925. Postings to HMA Ships Anzac and Adelaide followed and in 1927 he returned to England to commission the new HMAS Australia.

On 24 March 1928 he married Margaret Mary Anderson at St Andrew’s parish church in Plymouth.

Dalton was back in Australia by 1931 and after another sea-going posting, he was posted to land base HMAS Cerberus as an instructor at the engineering school in 1932. Margaret had travelled to Australia separately and joined her husband at Cerberus. She gave birth to their son David in September of 1932.

During his time at the engineering school, Dalton helped improve the school and its engineering program. He was also promoted to lieutenant commander.

Dalton returned to England in 1934 to oversee the construction and launch of HMAS Sydney (II). When the engineer officer became unwell, Dalton and a fellow officer took over the engineering works and conducted all of the work-ups and sea trials. They did their jobs so well that Rear Admiral K. Dean of the Royal Navy, himself an engineer officer, wrote an effusive letter to his superior at the Admiralty, praising the two men and recommending that they be brought to the notice of the Australian Naval Board.

HMAS Sydney (II) was launched on 22 September 1934 and was completed on 25 September 1935. The ship was commissioned the same day. Sydney sailed for Australia soon after, but was delayed by a diversion to the Mediterranean to take part in enforcing sanctions against Italy. HMAS Sydney finally arrived in Sydney in August 1936.
On returning to Australia, the family took up an apartment in Mosman while Dalton was transferred to oversee the refitting of HMAS Adelaide. He was promoted to commander December 1937, and returned to HMAS Sydney in June 1939 as engineer officer.

Following the outbreak of the Second World, Sydney was initially involved in patrolling Australian waters, but May 1940 Sydney deployed to the Mediterranean, attached to the Royal Navy’s 7th Cruiser Squadron. Italy entered the war in June and Sydney took part in the bombardment of the Italian port of Bardia soon after. However it was in July that HMAS Sydney took part in the action which made the ship and its crew the toast of Australia.

On the 19th of July, during a patrol off Cape Spada, a flotilla of British destroyers sighted two Italian cruisers, Bande Nere and Bartolomeo Colleoni. HMAS Sydney was some 74 kilometres to the north and changed course to lend assistance.

The Italian cruisers possessed similar armaments to Sydney and had greater speed, but Sydney pursued the Italian ships at high speed along the west coast of Crete before engaging and sinking Bartolomeo Colleoni. Bande Nere was damaged, but with its superior speed managed to escape.
Dalton and his team of engineers had maintained Sydney’s vital machinery throughout the action and, as a result, Dalton was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

When Sydney returned to Alexandria harbour in Egypt the following day, Dalton recorded, “We steamed down the line of battleships and cruisers, receiving a welcome that was wonderful. All ships cleared lower deck and gave us three cheers as we proceeded, and anyone would have imagined that we had won the war.”

In February 1941 Sydney returned to Australian waters. In Sydney harbour the crew were treated to an enthusiastic welcome home by large crowds and were given a civic reception. HMAS Sydney spent time in port for a refit, giving Dalton time to spend with his wife and son.

Returning to sea, Sydney was engaged in escort duties which took it to the Netherlands East Indies, Singapore, Noumea, Auckland and Suva before returning to Western Australian waters.

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. 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 fired 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, “A”, “B” and “Y”, were soon out of action, but “X” turret kept up fast and accurate fire that hit the raider’s funnel and engine room. Sydney, in turn, was hit by a torpedo between “A” and “B” 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, and 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 hands – 645 men in all – including Lionel Dalton. He was 39 years old.
The mystery of what happened to Sydney persisted for 67 years; but in March 2008, a team of searchers aboard the SV Geosounder located Kormoran over two kilometres below the surface of the Indian Ocean. Four days later, the wreck of Sydney was located just over 12 nautical miles from Kormoran. Subsequent investigations testified to the ferocity of the battle which had led to the sinking of both ships.

Like his father, David Dalton joined the Royal Australian Navy at the age of thirteen. In many respects David’s career mirrored that of his father. He too became an engineer officer and would also serve on a later HMAS Sydney, the third iteration of the ship. David finished his distinguished career with the rank of captain.

Lionel Dalton’s name is commemorated along with his crewmates on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in Britain. His name is also listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, 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 Commander Lionel Sydney Dalton DSO, RAN, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section
1321 words