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Another piece in the puzzle


Volume 50, No.2, February 22, 2007
 
FINDINGS: Further clues have come to light in the disappearance of Sydney II.
 
The answer to the $64,000 question of how much money someone would pay for the sea-ride of Analysis by the Australian War Memorial of a piece of shrapnel may have provided an insight into the ultimate fate of the HMAS Sydney II and its 645 crew.

The shrapnel, removed from the skull of remains believed to be those of a sailor from the ill-fated ship, bears the hallmarks of German manufacturing of the period.

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson, said that there was “a significant presence [in the shrapnel] of the elements of silicon and manganese typical of German hardening technology of the time”.

Japanese manufactured armour piercing projectiles contained nickel or copper, but neither of these metals were found in the piece of shrapnel.

The body of the sailor believed to be from HMAS Sydney was found on a raft in Flying Fish Cove at Christmas Island on February 6, 1942. It was buried on the island, but was recently rediscovered and the remains exhumed and sent to Australia for further tests.

A piece of metal removed from the skull of the remains proved to be shrapnel and pathology tests on the remains produced a result consistent with death at the time of the loss of the HMAS Sydney.

A press stud and a small piece of fabric found with the remains were also consistent with clothing worn by sailors at the time.