HMAS Armidale: Calls for legendary navy ship to be memorialised in Darwin
Malak resident Peter Caldwell never met his father, who perished on the legendary HMAS Armidale. Now, a memorial dedicated to the men who died that fateful day could be established near the home of the son who has longed for answers.
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Darwin man Peter Caldwell never met his father, and has spent a lifetime trying to understand the man who sacrificed his life just a short distance from the Top End’s coastline.
Mr Caldwell’s father, Able Seaman William Ralf Beech, perished aboard the legendary HMAS Armidale during the Second World War.
Mr Caldwell, 81, said he knew many details about his father, but what he was missing was a place to pay his respects to the man he calls “Daddy Bill”.
Recently, renewed calls to memorialise the legendary vessel has given the Malak resident hope he might be able to pay such a visit, with Canberra’s lower house told last month that Darwin was a suitable location for such a memorial.
In an interview with the NT News, Mr Caldwell said his father had been sent to the Top End at the height of the war.
“He joined the regular navy and, when the navy expanded rapidly, people with experience were moved to other vessels – that’s why my father got put on the Armidale,” Mr Caldwell told the NT News.
“He was the gun layer, so he was in charge of number one gun (on HMAS Armidale).”
On December 1, 1942, the HMAS Armidale was attacked by Japanese bombers near the Timor coastline, with Australian vessels guns also returning fire.
On number two gun was 18 year-old Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy Sheean’, who eyewitnesses said strapped himself to his weapon, shooting down a bomber in a desperate attempt to give his mates a chance to escape the sinking ship.
For his heroic actions, Teddy Sheean was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 2020 – the first Royal Australian Navy member to receive the honour.
According to the Australian War Memorial, of the 149-strong crew, only 49 would survive the tragedy, with Able Seaman Beech among the souls who perished that fateful day, aged 23.
Mr Caldwell was born just days later, on December 6, 1942.
“(Growing up) my mum didn’t really want to talk about (it) as you can probably understand,” Mr Caldwell said.
“It was a terrible period of her life losing her husband, and so a lot of what I was told about my father came from my aunties and my grandmother.”
While memorials dedicated to the HMAS Armidale exist interstate, the HMAS Armidale, which served out of Darwin, remains without a permanent memorial to the fallen ship.
However, momentum to establish such a memorial has grown, with Solomon MP Luke Gosling leading the charge in Parliament House last month.
“Darwin would be the most appropriate place to have a permanent memorial to these men, and I support every effort by the Remembering HMAS Armidale Association to achieve that aim.”
Mr Gosling said he would push for the crew to have its memorial delivered, just as Teddy Sheean received his Victoria Cross almost 80 years following his death.
“Teddy Sheean got his well-deserved VC for defending his Armidale shipmates in the water, and they should all get their memorial.”
Mr Caldwell said a permanent memorial in the Top End was appropriate – and overdue.
“The ship was based in Darwin when it sank,” he said.
“It was on its maiden voyage, so it had a very short life, but it was based in Darwin when it sank.”
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