Prime Minister announces Sheean eligible for commendation
Tasmanian war hero Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean has been recommended to receive the nation’s highest honour for valour in the face of the enemy after a decades-long campaign. But there are still several steps before he is commended. HISTORY | TIMELINE | WHAT’S NEXT >>
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- Family hails justice for Teddy after long campaign
- Teddy Sheean now eligible for VC after expert panel decision
TASMANIAN war hero Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean has been recommended to receive the nation’s highest honour for valour in the face of the enemy after a decades-long campaign by supporters.
Subject to approval by the Queen, Sheean will become the first member of the Royal Australian Navy to be recognised with the Victoria Cross.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the outcome of a recent top-level review on Monday.
Sheean saved the lives scores of his of shipmates after ignoring orders to abandon the HMAS Armidale which had come under heavy Japanese fire on December 1, 1942 in the Timor Sea.
Firing as the ship sank beneath him and defying multiple wounds, he brought down one attacking plane and damaged two more. He died at his gun.
Evidence of his determination from the archives of the Japanese armed forces helped the case.
Sheean, who was born in Lower Barrington and attended school in Latrobe, was just 18 when he died.
He was posthumously awarded a Mention In Dispatches, but controversy had raged in recent years about whether he was unjustly overlooked for higher honours.
Prime Minster Scott Morrison announced on Monday that a report issued by a recent Tribunal Review into the matter had found Sheean to be an eligible recipient for the Victoria Cross.
A previous attempt to recognise Sheean was heavily criticised as his actions were not seen to be worthy of a VC.
TIMELINE >>
- December 1, 1942: HMAS Armidale is sunk by the Japanese in the Timor Sea. 100 of the 149 on board die with 18-yar-old seaman Teddy Sheean continuing to fire as the ship went down to protect those who had managed to get into the water.
- June 1943: The London Gazette announces Sheean has been awarded a Mention in Dispatches.
- May 1999: A Collins Class submarine is named after Sheean.
- 2013: The case for Sheean to be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross forms part of an Inquiry into Unresolved Recognition of Past Acts of Naval and Military Gallantry and Valour.
- The inquiry finds Sheean’s actions did not reach the particularly high standard required for a recommendation for a Victoria Cross.
- 2017: the UK’s Ministry of Defence refused to consider Sheean for the accolade.
- March 2019, Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal hearings are held in Hobart to reconsider the 2013 rebuff.
- July, 2019: The tribunal hands its final report to the Federal Government. The report recommends the original decision be put aside and Sheean be honoured with a VC.
- May, 2020, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds rejects that recommendations.
- June 2020: After an outcry over Ms Reynolds’ decision the Prime Minister announces an independent expert panel would again look into the case.
- August 10 2020: The government announces Sheehan will be awarded a Victoria Cross almost 80 years after his death.
Mr Morrison said the report found “compelling new evidence in support for high recognition for Sheean”.
“That Sheean was done a substantial injustice in consideration of his actions in the original decision making period in 1942 to 1943,” he said.
The Prime Minister said he submitted the recommendation to the Governor-General and the matter was now before the Queen.
“We will be hopeful for what will come back as a contented response from Her Majesty,” he said.
“Any ambiguity that existed before, or that had been allowed to prevail by acting hastily, that could have undermined the recommendation that we have made.
“So I can now make this recommendation confidently on the basis of the process that we have followed.”
Mr Morrison said Sheean’s act of bravery was “exceptional” and it was “unlikely” today’s decision to recommend a VC after decades would create a wave of other requests for reconsideration of acts of bravery.
Former War Memorial head Brendan Nelson was on an expert review panel that found new evidence from Japanese aviation military records in Tokyo.
The latest review found that there was “compelling new evidence” to support the recognition of Sheean and that he was “done a substantial injustice” when his actions were initially considered in 1942-43.
Dr Nelson said Sheean was the youngest, lowest ranked seaman on HMAS Armidale who decided to defend against the Japanese instead of getting in a lifeboat.
“This man deserves the Victoria Cross,” Dr Nelson.
“An injustice has been done to Sheean by a series of missteps, missed opportunities and at times some mistakes that have been made in examination of the facts in relation to his actions.
“As the PM said, he’s a man of whom we’ve always been proud. But now, we put him amongst those other 100 Victoria Cross recipients as literally the bravest of the brave.”
The latest review followed pressure from the public and Mr Morrison’s own party after the Government did not accept a tribunal recommendation in May to award the war hero the VC.
Tasmanian Veteran Affairs Minister Guy Barnett also appeared before the panel in support of Sheean.
Labor spokesman Chris Bowen said it was an important day for Australia’s veterans.
“ Teddy Sheean deserves the VC and Labor very much welcomes his awarding of the VC subject to Her Majesty’s approval,” Mr Bowen said.
Senator Jacqui Lambie also hailed the decision.
“No matter how messy, and how stupid, and how pig-headed this whole process to get here has been, I don’t care. I am just so thankful we got here at all.
“This isn’t about politics or popularity. This is about justice.
“An 18-year-old kid from Lower Barrington didn’t lay down his life to win a medal. He did it to save his mates. He gave all he had to give for his country.
“And today, his country finally went a little way to repay him.”
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