FURTHER RESULTS IN RELATION TO CHRISTMAS ISLAND REMAINS

Further examination of shrapnel removed from the skull of remains recovered from Christmas Island, which are believed to be those of a sailor from the ill-fated HMAS Sydney II, found the metal displayed characteristics of German hardening technology at the time of the ship’s sinking in 1941.

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson said subsequent to earlier ballistics analysis, which established that the metal fragment was a piece of shrapnel, the Australian War Memorial has conducted further metallurgical analysis.

“The largely corroded shrapnel fragment was found to contain within it a small piece of very hard, non-corroded metal. The latest findings show that the metal contains a significant presence of the elements silicon and manganese typical of German hardening technology of the time,” Mr Billson said.   

“While Germany supplied munitions to Japan prior to the Second World War, these munitions contained nickel and silicon.”

The AWM report noted that Japanese manufactured armour piercing projectiles contained nickel in the early years of World War II, and when nickel became difficult to obtain, significant amounts of copper were used in the alloy mix.

“As the fragment does not contain either nickel or copper, the AWM has assessed that the fragment is unlikely to have come from a Japanese manufactured projectile,” Mr Billson said.

In addition to the AWM analysis, a specialist forensic pathologist has been conducting a detailed examination of the skeletal remains.

“The findings from this pathological analysis have confirmed that the time since death appears to be between 50 and 100 years, which is consistent with the timeline of a body washing ashore on Christmas Island in February 1942,” Mr Billson said.

“Upon removal of the shrapnel and close examination of the wound, it was found that the shrapnel struck the front of the skull and lodged in the left forehead. In addition to this injury, the pathologist identified a second major skull injury, with bone loss on the left side of the skull, above and behind the left earhole, which is also believed to have occurred around the time of death,” Mr Billson said.

“The analysis also identified multiple rib fractures, but it is unknown whether these occurred around the time of death or long after death with the settling of the grave. No other shrapnel or projectiles have been found elsewhere in the remains,” he said.

Analysis also conducted on small items recovered with the remains, including a press stud and a small piece of fabric were found to be consistent with clothing worn by sailors at the time of the Sydney sinking.

“Further work is continuing with the identification process, including dental and anthropological analyses and the full findings are expected by the end of March. As with any undertaking of this type, the likelihood of positively identifying the remains is low,” Mr Billson said.

Media Information:

Cameron Hill                                                 (Mr Billson)    02 6277 7820              0408 239 521

Defence Media Liaison                    (Defence)       02 6265 3343              0408 498 664

For a free subscription to Defence Direct, the Minister for Defence's monthly e-newsletter, please follow this link http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/defencedirect/spt/subscribe.html