Tasmania's Veterans' Affairs Minister Guy Barnett has met with the last surviving shipmate of one of Tasmania's most famous war heroes, Ordinary Seaman Edward 'Teddy' Sheean, as part of a renewed push to have him recognised with a posthumous Victoria Cross.
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Ray Leonard, 94, was just 19-years-old when he was serving in the Royal Australian Navy on the HMAS Armidale during World War II.
He was there when Sheean made a heroic sacrifice, protecting his mates from a ruthless enemy assault.
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In March this year, the Defence Honours Awards and Appeals Tribunal held two hearings in Hobart to consider evidence for Sheean's eligibility for the Commonwealth's highest military honour.
It follows a 2013 decision not to recommend him for the VC.
On Friday, Mr Barnett went to visit Dr Leonard at the aged care facility in Melbourne where he lives.
"I had the honour of meeting with Dr Ray Leonard ... to discuss the submission currently being considered by the Australian government's Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal," Mr Barnett said.
In 1942, the Japanese forces were steadily gaining ground in the Pacific theatre.
On the first day of December, the HMAS Armidale was attacked by 13 Japanese warplanes off the coast of East Timor.
Hopelessly outmatched, the ship began to go down, having been hit by a torpedo, and its crew was ordered to abandon ship.
As he swam away, Dr Leonard heard the familiar sound of an anti-aircraft gun. But once he turned his head, all he saw was the ship's stern and propeller gradually being subsumed by the ocean.
After ten minutes of relentless machine gun fire, the enemy fighters departed. It was then that Dr Leonard swam to the ship's motor boat and encountered his shipmate Ordinary Seaman Russell Caro. Caro told him he'd borne witness to Sheean - himself only 18-years-old - defiantly clutching the anti-aircraft gun as the ship went down, firing off shots at the swarming aircraft.
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Sheean shot down at least one bomber, despite having wounds to his chest and back.
Of the 149 crew members on the HMAS Armidale, only 49 ultimately survived the attack. Sheean was not one of them, going down with the ship.
Sheean's last stand is immortalised in a well-known painting at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
But calls for Sheean to be awarded the VC have so far fallen on deaf ears.
Mr Barnett hopes that will soon change.
"It has been a long and hard campaign and now after more than 15 years I am more hopeful than ever of gaining appropriate recognition for Teddy Sheean," he said.
Rob Inglis
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
