Pilots pulled out all stops

Shock was felt across Australia when it became known the light cruiser HMAS Sydney II had been sunk, with the loss of all 645 of her crew as it was later learned, by the German raider Kormoran on November 19, 1941.

Extraordinary efforts were made by Royal Australian Air Force crews in the search for any survivors.

Among the searchers was Pilot Officer Reg Seymour, who at the time was stationed at Port Moresby with RAAF 11 Squadron, flying Catalina flying boats.

This account is derived from his memoirs.

Responding to a request on November 24 for aerial reconnaissance, two Catalinas were despatched under the command of US Navy aircraft captains who were on exchange duty with 11 Squadron.

Catalina A24-11, commanded by USN Lieutenant Hutchinson with Pilot Officer Seymour as second pilot/navigator, left Port Moresby at dawn on the 25th.

Refuelling at Darwin, they pressed on to Fremantle, arriving at dawn after having flown for 25 hours.

P/O Seymour said in his account “I dimly recall being briefed, obtaining charts and having a short sleep before taking off again for what was to be our operating base at Geraldton”.

On arrival here the Catalina was moored in the harbour while its exhausted crew were taken to the Flight Service Training School at Geraldton airport for their first meal and proper sleep in two days.

At dawn on November 27, they joined the search and flew 1000 feet above the waves, navigating by “dead reckoning” as they were under strict radio silence.

After flying non-stop for 11 hours and 45 minutes, they returned to Geraldton and tied the Catalinas to the wharf to refuel “through hoses fed to us from the jetty and pumped from 44-gallon drums. As we carried 1450 gallons of fuel, by the time both aircraft had consumed 30 to 35 drums of fuel each it was dark.”

On November 28 the aviators flew for 12 hours and 55 minutes before again tying up at Geraldton wharf for the laborious task of refuelling, watched by curious locals.

Resuming the search the next day, they were recalled after nine hours in the air as the first Kormoran survivors had been found and the ultimately fruitless search turned to the land.

Stood down for a day of rest, the Catalinas returned to Port Moresby, having flown 87 hours and 55 minutes in eight days.