Edward Sheean
Edward (Teddy) Sheean (born December 28, 1923 in Barrington on Tasmania , † December 1, 1942 off Betano on Timor ) was an Australian sailor in World War II .
Teddy Sheean attended a Catholic elementary school. Coming from a humble background, he did not receive any further education and began working with his father as a carpenter and shearer at a young age .
Under the impression of the war in Europe and the looming Japanese threat to his home country, the 17-year-old volunteered in the Royal Australian Navy on April 21, 1941 . The young sailor began his training on the depot ship HMAS Derwent in Hobart , the capital of his home island. At the same time he completed part of his maritime training on the auxiliary minesweeper HMAS Coombar .
Sheean was transferred to HMAS Cerberus on his 18th birthday to complete his basic training. The new home base was in Western Port near Melbourne in the state of Victoria . Three weeks earlier , Japanese units raided the US naval port of Pearl Harbor , which finally turned the war in Europe, Africa and China into a world war and ultimately also reached remote Australia. Within six months, the Japanese Empire conquered French Indochina , Malaya , the Dutch East Indies , Portuguese Timor , the Philippines , almost all of New Guinea and most of the other islands in the Pacific Ocean .
After a brief assignment on the HMAS Penguin , the sailor Sheean was ordered to the corvette HMAS Armidale in the summer of 1942 . The new building was put into service on June 11, 1942.
The HMAS Armidale transported Australian and Dutch commandos to Timor on December 1, 1942. The corvette was attacked by 13 Japanese aircraft and damaged so badly that it had to be abandoned. Although the Australian warship was clearly lost, the Japanese planes shot at the survivors in their lifeboats. Given the hopeless situation of his shipwrecked comrades, Teddy Sheean did not leave his anti-aircraft gun and continued to fire at the planes. He was able to shoot down one attacker and severely damage two others, but had to pay for his efforts with his life. Of 149 Australian and Dutch sailors and soldiers aboard HMAS Armidale , 47 were killed in the air strike. Most of the others owed their survival to Teddy Sheean.
The Australian Navy is honoring the Tasmanian carpenter with a Collins-class submarine named after him . The HMAS Sheean (SSG 77) was launched in 1999 in the presence of Teddy Sheean's sister Ivy Hayes.
Lee Kernaghan dedicated a song to Sheean on the collective album Spirit of the ANZACs (Forever Eighteen). In 2020, Queen Elizabeth II approved the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Sheean. A ceremony is scheduled to take place in the next few months.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Queen approves Victoria Cross for WWII hero Teddy Sheean. In: ABC News Australia. August 12, 2020, accessed on August 15, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sheean, Edward |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sheean, teddy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian sailor in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 28, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Barrington (Tasmania) , Tasmania , Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1, 1942 |
| Place of death | before Betano , Timor |