DNA Testing Fails To Identify Unknown WWII Sailor

The Hon. Bruce Billson, MP
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

Christmas Island Update: Initial DNA Testing Fails To Identify Unknown Sailor

A bid to identify the remains of an unknown sailor, almost certainly from the HMAS Sydney II, with DNA testing of samples provided by the relatives of three short-listed sailors has been unsuccessful in finding a match.

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Bruce Billson said while the tests had not achieved a match with the three sailors initially short-listed through research and some educated assumptions, the fact useable DNA had been extracted from the remains of the unknown sailor meant further testing could be conducted in a bid to find a match with other remaining possibilities.

The sailor's remains were recovered from Christmas Island last November. Since that time the Royal Australian Navy has overseen a painstakingly thorough and methodical forensic and historical investigation in an attempt to identify the remains.

Last month Minister Billson announced that a short-list of three possible HMAS Sydney II officers had emerged as potential matches.

Those officers were Lieutenant Allen James King, Lieutenant Allan Wallace Wilson and Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Harold Schoch. While relatives for all three of these officers were located, none of their DNA samples were matches for the remains. Lieutenants King and Wilson and Sub-Lieutenant Schoch have therefore been excluded as possible matches.

They join more than 500 of the crew of HMAS Sydney II who have now been excluded as matches on the basis of forensic dental and anthropological analyses. HMAS Sydney II was lost with all 645 crew in November 1941 off the West Australian coast following a World War II engagement with the German raider Kormoran.

Following the latest developments, there remains over 100 crew members who have not been categorically excluded on scientific grounds as potential matches. To reduce this number to a manageable level for the purposes of DNA testing, the outcomes of analyses conducted on artefacts found with the remains in the grave were also considered.

In particular, Australian War Memorial (AWM) analysis of cloth fragments caught within press-studs resulted in the assessment that the man had been buried wearing white coveralls. While initial historical research by the AWM and the Navy's Sea Power Centre-Australia concluded that the sailor was most likely to be an Officer or Warrant Officer from one of the technical categories, DNA testing has shown that this may not be the case.

"The DNA matching process was a test of the set of assumptions we had made in coming to the short-list," the forensic team leader, Commander Matt Blenkin, said. "The personnel initially identified as the most likely candidates for a match against the remains have now been ruled out, and we must now widen the net slightly to consider the next most likely."

The next phase of the search will concentrate on the 11 officers and Warrant Officers who have not already been excluded on dental or anthropological grounds. This short-list has been arrived at on the basis that only officers and Warrant Officers were entitled to wear white coveralls. Additionally, two civilian canteen workers will be considered as potential matches due to uncertainty as to what they would have been wearing during battle stations.

Work is now underway to locate surviving relatives of the following 13 crew-members:

* Lieutenant Thomas Garton BROWN, RAN, born 22 January 1920, joined from Mosman, NSW

* Lieutenant Eric Elton MAYO, RAN, born 28 July 1912, joined from North Adelaide, SA

* Lieutenant Robert Ernest RIDOUT, RAN, born 4 September 1914, joined from Kew, VIC

* Surgeon Lieutenant Mervyn Clive TOWNSEND, RAN, born 5 February 1917, joined from Bairnsdale, VIC

* Lieutenant Ian Thomas Roy TRELOAR, RAN, born 10 April 1919, joined from Echuca, VIC

* Schoolmaster Percy Francis SKEWES, RAN, born 28 November 1914, joined from Charters Towers, QLD

* Sub-Lieutenant James Irvine CLIFTON, RAN, born 7 November 1916, joined from West Perth, WA

* Sub-Lieutenant Alexander Vinrace EAGAR, RAN, born 13 March 1917, joined from Brisbane, QLD

* Lieutenant Commander Michael Morgan SINGER, RN, DOB 5 Dec 1909, joined from Stoke, UK

* Warrant Officer Gunner Frank Leslie MACDONALD, RN, joined from Portsmouth, UK

* Flying Officer Raymond Barker BARREY, RAAF, born 23 July 1916, joined from Grange, SA

* Samuel PSAILA, canteen assistant, other details unknown

* Salvatore ZAMMITT, canteen manager, other details unknown; family believed to be living in Sydney

Any person having knowledge of the whereabouts of surviving family members of the above HMAS Sydney II crew members is asked to make contact with the Christmas Island Investigation Team by letter to: Christmas Island Investigation Team, R1-4-C070, Russell Offices, Canberra, ACT, 2600.

It is hoped that relatives may be able to provide additional biographical, physiological or medical information that could further assist the identification process.

Mr Billson said despite the presence of a DNA sample, it must be stressed that the prospects of individual identification remains low.

"The process to date has been extremely thorough in order to ensure the integrity of the findings, and to provide the greatest possible chance of success in finally identifying the unknown sailor," he said.

"I am encouraged by the fact that we have DNA for the sailor, but whether we can use this to make a positive identification very much depends on the information we are able to obtain from surviving relatives. It remains my sincere hope that we will be able to identify him."

ENDS

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