![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sheean_Portrait_Awm044154-182x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Consider this an early Valor Friday. The story is too incredible not to relay immediately.<\/p>\n
Another case of long overdue recognition has been righted this week. Queen Elizabeth II yesterday approved award of the Victoria Cross for Australia (posthumous) to Ordinary Seaman Edward “Teddy” Sheean (RANR).<\/p>\n
Sheean was only 18 when he died protecting his fellow sailors from Japanese attack as their ship went down on December 1, 1942 in in the Arafura Sea. A legend in the Royal Australian Navy, his heroism was only recognized with a posthumous Mention in Dispatches (roughly equivalent to an American Bronze Star w\/ “V”). After nearly 80 years, he is finally receiving the Victoria Cross, the UK and Commonwealth’s highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.<\/p>\n
On that fateful day, Seaman Sheean was one of 149 men assigned to the corvette HMAS Armidale (J240) when they were attacked at about 1300 hours by a flight of five Japanese dive bombers. They damaged two aircraft and the other three missed their mark. An hour later several Japanese Zero fighters engaged the ship, distracting their guns, while a flight of nine torpedo bombers attacked Armidale. At one point during the battle a torpedo was released late, streaking through the air in front of the ship’s bridge before hitting the water.<\/p>\n
Fighting to evade the enemy, the besieged ship was struck in quick succession by two enemy torpedos. The first hit the mess deck, killing many of the troops being housed there, and the second hit the ship’s engine room. This was immediately followed by the detonation of a bomb on the aft portion of the ship.\u00a0The ship was lost. The order was given to abandon ship.<\/p>\n
Despite being injured in the battle, Sheean helped free lifeboats. The Japanese fighters, seeing the sailors entering the water, turned away from attacking the ship and instead strafed those in the life rafts. Seeing this play out, Sheean took two hits from the attacking aircraft, one to his chest and one in the back. In spite of these grievous wounds, he clawed his way across the ship’s deck and strapped himself into the ship’s aft Oerlikon 20mm cannon.<\/p>\n
It was from that cannon position that he single-handedly engaged the enemy fighters, as the ship was sinking beneath him. He downed one enemy plane, kept firing as the water rose up around him, and damaged at least two other planes. He remained at that post, firing the gun until the stern went below water, engaging the enemy as the gun disappeared from sight. Survivors testified that they saw tracers from the cannon as the young sailor fought past his last breath.<\/p>\n Many of the 49 survivors credit Sheean with saving their lives. Sheean was one of 100 Allied troops who died that day. His VC is the first ever awarded to a member of the Royal Australian Navy. He is one of only 101 Australians to have ever received the VC, and one of only 21 Australians who received the medal for actions during World War II.<\/p>\n Source;\u00a0ABC (Aus)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Victoria-Cross-300x300.jpg\")