Weston Man Killed

The following transcription, made by Mélissa Martin for the Weston History and Heritage website, was taken from Pioneering Days of the Coalfields, No.15, by Brian J. Andrews for the Coalfields Heritage Centre . Jan. 2001, pp.1-2.  

Leading Stoker Sydney W. Butcher, 21, of Weston, was at the wrong place at the wrong time. As a navy man he was one of those few who served their country in WWII to be killed by the Japanese on home soil – be it in this case home waters.

Those home waters were what were considered to be the safe haven of beautiful Sydney Harbour.

During May, 1942, Sydney Harbour was a hive of military activity, being crowded, not only with Australian naval ships and boats but also those of our Allies.

Sydney Butcher was sleeping aboard a depot vessel, the former ferry 'Kuttabul,' moored along side the Garden Island naval base.

At exactly 12.29 am on the morning of June 1, 1942, his vessel was struck by a errant torpedo, fired from one of three midget submarines, who had entered the harbour undetected.

The target of the torpedo had been the USS Chicago.

An eye-witness was M. Cummings, another who was billeted aboard the old steam-powered ferry. He had returned aboard just four or five minutes before the torpedo struck.

He recalled: “I heard a crash and found myself hurled through a glass door and then the window. I saw another man trapped in the mass. I stripped, and dived into the water, and with the assistance of someone else whose name I don't know, pulled him out.

Cumming said he had great difficulty in getting the man ashore because of the wreckage and the fact that they could not get a firm foot hold. He added that the stern of the ferry which wad hit by the torpedo sank immediately, giving those trapped below no chance whatever.

However, it took an hour for the rest of the vessel to go down, leaving only a portion of the top deck above water (pictured).

Cumming said that the first impression was that a bomb had been dropped. After the crash of the first explosion he thought he heard a second, but it might have been only the timbers of the old ferry being shattered.

Joseph Ward, another witness, was sitting in one section of the ferry when the explosion occurred. He at once knew it was something other than a bomb, as he had heard no whistle.

“I was lifted three feet out of the rear and through a door, and then I was blown back again. I don't know what happened, but there I was back where I started.

As dawn broke the ferry's funnel and portion of the top deck was still above water, the ferry resting on the harbour bottom.

The tragedy took the lives of 21 men.

[Transcribed for the Weston History and Heritage website by Mélissa Martin]