Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

In 1941 after HMAS Sydney returned to Australia & was stationed in Perth, Len & a mate were staying at his mothers home the night before they were to set sail. A faulty alarm clock caused them to sleep in & miss the ship as she left to patrol the Dutch East Indies. The spent some time in Freemantle jail for missing the ship. A small price to play when you consider the misfortune of the rest of the crew.
On 19th November, 1941, HMAS Sydney the pride of the Australian fleet was sunk by the German raider HSK Kormoran, posing as a Dutch trading ship. The crew of 645 were lost.
When Japan entered the war Len & his mate were placed in charge of Chinese stokers, on a coal fired tugboat towing a damaged British ship to Melbourne. Complaining about the food & conditions, the British Captain pulled out his revolver & stated that he could shoot the for mutiny. This occured while his brother Roy was posted as missing after HMAS Perth was sunk in the Sunda Strait, spending the rest of the war as a POW.
Len was discharge on 8.6.1951, he returned to Proserpine working at the sugar mill as a steam loco driver. Later cutting cane & working for the PMG.