No-one will ever know what made him do it. In 1942, 18-year-old Edward “Teddy” Sheean was one of the youngest and most inexperienced sailors on board the the corvette HMAS Armidale. Whilst on operation in the Timor Sea this warship came under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft. Armidale began sinking while swarmed by Japanese aircraft, strafing and bombing the stricken vessel and the crew who were desperately trying to Abandon Ship. The wounded Ordinary Seaman turned back to his gun, an Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon and strapped himself into the harness. He began firing at the attacking Japanese aircraft, a courageous young man, determined to do his best to save his mates. This selfless act of valour helped save the lives of 49 crew, before Teddy himself went down with the Armidale. No member of the Royal Australian Navy has ever been awarded a Victoria Cross. Teddy’s family and many others took up his case and fought for his recognition. It took more than 70 years for Teddy to becomes the first in Australia’s Naval history to receive this highest award ¬– confirming Teddy Sheean is an Australian hero. Sheean is the 101st VC awarded to an Australian

No-one will ever know what made him do it. In 1942, 18-year-old Edward ''Teddy'' Sheean was one of the youngest and most inexperienced sailors on board the the corvette HMAS Armidale. Whilst on operation in the Timor Sea this warship came under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft. Armidale began sinking while swarmed by Japanese aircraft, strafing and bombing the stricken vessel and the crew who were desperately trying to Abandon Ship. The wounded Ordinary Seaman turned back to his gun, an Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon and strapped himself into the harness. He began firing at the attacking Japanese aircraft, a courageous young man, determined to do his best to save his mates. This selfless act of valour helped save the lives of 49 crew, before Teddy himself went down with the Armidale. No member of the Royal Australian Navy has ever been awarded a Victoria Cross. Teddy's family and many others took up his case and fought for his recognition. It took more than 70 years for Teddy to becomes the first in Australia's Naval history to receive this highest award ¬- confirming Teddy Sheean is an Australian hero. Sheean is the 101st VC awarded to an Australian

No-one will ever know what made him do it. Teddy Sheean was part of the evacuation of his warship, the corvette Armidale sinking fast while around it swarmed Japanese aircraft, shooting with abandon. Teddy turned back to his gun, an Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon with a broad leather strap to secure the gunner. He began firing...a courageous Tasmanian was determined to do his best to save his mates and his ship.No member of the Royal Australian Navy has ever been awarded a Victoria Cross. Of the 100 so far given to Australians, 96 are to the Army and four to the Royal Australian Air Force. It was not from lack of bravery that this unjust situation has arisen. It derives from substantial unfairness. In World War I and II, the RAN had to apply through Britain's class-bound Royal Navy for any such award to be made. This book focuses on a naval sailor who should have received a VC. Honour Denied - Teddy Sheean, a Tasmanian Hero, also: * Reveals the secret engagement Teddy Sheean kept concealed from his family * Lists for the first time the full list of Dutch soldiers who died when HMAS Armidale was sunk in 1942 * Compares the bravery of Sheean to two other Australian naval heroes - who should also have been decorated with the Victoria Cross * Reveals the reverse of what other writers have suggested: the Royal Australian Navy was proud of Armidale and her fight, and did not cover up her loss

Any Australian asked to mention our war heroes could probably name General Monash and Albert Jacka VC from World War I, and then Weary Dunlop, and perhaps Field Marshal Blamey from WWII. A knowledgeable few might be able to suggest Australia's greatest fighting air ace, Clive Caldwell. But who could name our naval heroes? Naval conflicts take place often far from our shores. Ships and men sometimes disappear, to leave only mystery in their wake. In the 1990s the Royal Australian Navy broke with tradition, and for the first time named six submarines after six naval heroes. This book shows the true depths of their achievements. These were men whose warrior exploits stand alongside those of any from other nations. But they have been largely unrecognised, save for those submarines. Captain Hec Waller, for example, fought to the end in HMAS Perth, alongside fellow cruiser USS Houston. The Houston's Captain Rooks was deservedly awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour, America's highest honour. Captain Waller, by comparison, was given distinction, but not of the highest rank. Should he have been given the Victoria Cross? Other heroes stand alongside him. Emile Dechaineux, hero of Dunkirk and the North Sea, battling it out against Japanese kamikaze attack. John Collins, taking HMAS Sydney to victory against Italian cruisers. Hal Farncomb - the first Australian to command an aircraft carrier, in action off the French coast. But The Submarine Six also examines whether two more of its men deserve further honour. Teddy Sheean, tenacious gunner from Tasmania, fought to the end in HMAS Armidale. Robert Rankin commanded HMAS Yarra against fearful odds, dying in defence of his convoy, attacked by overwhelming Japanese forces. Are they also VC candidates? Three of the men are from Tasmania, the island state which in WWII contributed more seamen per head of the population than any other state. All of the six are men of determination, bravery, and incredible resolve. Worth analysis, worth following, and worthy of greater recognition - Australian heroes all. The Submarine Six brings forward six naval warriors to stand alongside any other military achiever.

True story of the sinking of HMAS Armidale in the Timor Sea in 1942 and the battle of the surviving sailors and soldiers to stay alive. Using now declassified documents, the book describes the Timor Sea operation as a botched affair subsequently covered up by the Navy. The author is a journalist and fiction writer who joined the Australian Navy at the outbreak of World War II.

'The more I learned, the more I realised this was an Australia I hardly knew. This was stormy weather Australia, an Australia of shipwrecks and sealers; of brutality and extermination; of folly and heroism; of wild weather and explorers in flimsy boats; of thousand-foot cliffs and amazing birds and strange vegetation; of places well-trodden and others believed never to have felt the impact of a human foot. This was a truly gothic Australia, as real and as valid as the gold and the drovers and the deserts, yet known to almost no one.' Michael Veitch has long been fascinated by the islands of Bass Strait, between mainland Australia and Tasmania – a multitude of cold, dark isles, regularly pounded by atrocious weather and hardly visited, but rich in atypical Australian history. This is the story of his personal odyssey among them (plagued at times by appalling seasickness, airsickness and stinging nettles). The Forgotten Islands is an incredible, evocative read that shines a light on this little-known part of Australia and its extraordinary history.

The first attacks on Australia by the Japanese were made by four submarines of the Sixth Submarine Squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Together, these 80-man boats laid mines, and then waited in their killing zones for targets to torpedo. On 20 January 1942, it all went horribly wrong. Sunk with all hands, the submarine I-124 remains outside Darwin today, testimony to bravery but also to folly. Avonmore Books' new edition of a 1990s work features new and improved graphics, a host of photographs, and the complete story of the submarine action and events through the decades beyond - for the sunken vessel did not lie easy. Code seekers, treasure hunters, and potential salvors eventually led to the formation of the Historic Shipwrecks Act.