WAM.043.0007_R

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The Evidence Act,1Q06

STATUTORY DECLARATION

I. John Willi..1II Doohan. of-- I '"tbe State of WeStern AU~o &oleanly an sincerelydeclare that:

All the following.in ~J full belief of corrsce_Dess of document copies attached.hereto.or matters herein

identified from relevant record,is true account of eVents t.st­if,ins to receipt by Australien Defence Forces personnel andotbers of electronicall, translllitted CO~lIIunic.t1on8 (WIT) s1a­nals frolll loyal Australiaa Navy's HKA$ SYDNIY lIon the ni,hrof Vedn••d.y 19 HoYeabet 1941;8n4 of related end .pparentl,related evente bafore,durin, and after Wedn.aday 19 Nov••ber 1941

Un1yer••l1, acknovled.ad.HMAS SYDHBT wa. lost With all 645 Co.p~an, 4urias the n1sht of 19/20 Nov.mb.r 1941 1n ' ••piciou. circu.­ItaRC•• mcill unlova.tia.ted b, rele.'Rt compeCenc auchorlty;thaonI, vita••••• to RN4S SYDNKY', 10•••1lesadly .arvl.ina crew ofthe 14ZI-eer••• Co..erce Reider RBI IDRHOIAN.int.rcapta. and ••atb, INAS STDllr oa aiaht of 19 Noye.ber 1941.

a. an DO aof,. a1• .eke da,

aparta .... t e .. e'Cort of t e ...11 trOOJ-.ki,luad_ Itralc,D.tch ",e lad1...

Pace 2. (Statutory Deeler_tlon of John Vil1iam DOOKAH)

• (Cont'd) Tueada,. 110 .... 18 November 1941: Disull;:t naval OfficerWestern Area (Captaln C.Farquhar S~ith), Senior Naval Inte1I-'

icanee Officer.Fra.antle {Commander V.Ramacel and tht 2nd Navalar N Board He bourne Com.odore J.W.Durnford arrived at

Port War 5i 01101 Statl-on Rottne,t Island. Refer Rottnellt Islandort ar 1lnal Statl-on LoS.IS ovamber 1941.J

• (Cont'd) Tueada,. 18 Noy.mb.r J9Ll- Sst C.J.Eeher1d,. Foremen of~a.FreD.ntle Fl~.d Def.nce Sianals (Army) racords in hlaadvicea of IS MoYallbar.199l to Fra.antle Haritl-me Museum Curator.Doctor H_HcCar~by the followin.:

~", own 1nterest 11n BHAS SYDNEY10a.J at.~8 from my pra.ence vhen ver, firar V/T .es.ases war.b.inl r.c.i••d at tb. Fr••antl. Port War S11nal Station on Rott~

neat I.land at S11nal lidl•• As Forellan of S1,.ala (Ar.,) •• 1 va•• 1.it1nl Port V.r .110.1101 ailnal .tation at a ti•• ,b, eh.R~e,wb.n

WIT si••ala vere belDI ret.1y•• par port i •• to b. fro. BtiAS iIRII1chan .a4.e.o.rial co i4.Btlf, a.oth.r •••••1 Un'.r .u.pi~ioD••on,I fl~l, belle•• the 18,h 'py,.b.r 1941. I k.ov fro. tba i ...d­tee. tDt.r••t ,bPl' bl Fb, ft.y,l '1£'P'D,l eT ,be [1",D,O (Dtst­rict .e••1 0l11e. vould ha•• b••• aotili.d.'I.I.r V.A.Neritt••Il_eu. CI1ftt.1:OZ' ft,=Canb,'. HMAS srnlY UI••• ]At a 1.~ "~.1 chtak 1995. I .,•••other r ••••rcb.r Sm.ioreou...h hcv v..&aa.V.' PaUe. rorce "erm i,'or••' 4W'!al .ar:ltI'CI.,.....~ ~HIl "lUI "01,-","0_11 C.J ar..laer1qa 'tJw;c. III.""' ... QII. lA h ~ 1941 _e. lot,. t ....t: Ver S:Lpel luc..

~ &M-I...w- ~ " .._....

Page 3. (STATUTORY D£CLARATIO~ of John William DOOHAH)

Hov", ... ber 1941:~ .. Al 6.05 p•• Pettr Officer Yo~ns

,econd lJ/T tran' ... 1."ion conS1.sting of "QQSQ" and.ade f1. \,Ires "110" follo,",,,,d b ,. 000 G!'IT .

00 and QQQQ~ denoted Allied l1.shtlns of enemr

1.ntercept",d arou of badloth '1.lnals.

"ar vessel.A",radio G",raldton.also.reported that on 19 Howe.b.r 1941 theyrecei"ed part of the~tran'llli"1.onand.at 6.15 pm. ,sent O~t.eS5age. to 5h~ps asking for anr report but received no reply.The above signals and Aerad1.o Geraldton report are officiallrcIa1.med not re orted to Haw b So~th Wast Area Head uartersu t1 •• ovelll at J 4 efer Havy 0 ice ...essale of

7 a ••••r 1941 ~o Central War Roo. South lJeat Area Co...biu~dHeadquarters; Catelor)' 'SECRET'.J

.. (Cont'd) 19

Tha raider IORMOIAH's Captain Theodor Anton Det.ers,in his 1941l.nterrosatioD evidencll stated that ~ut 5.66 pll. 'G' Tillie (6.00pili. 'H' Tl.... ior W.A. Tl• .,J the IORMORAlltrept,iu,d the tvo -­" ... n.lI~ a1!hted" '~' lli.nals.allea.,dly aa a tUIU! to confuse HMASSTDME 'Pi thAt "Perth Radio" i •••HAtch acknowledud recchtpf bia .huh.Cl.arly.Det•• ra bad .'.t' t.aSOD Dot to lie about KP.tth Rad10".~kDOvlcdl•••nt of hi_ s1.n.l •• be~aua. the na,)' ..h~ch hald b1.,riaoaet vould know if it bad ocknovl••a.d tbe_,or aot; ••dD,c.,r••••,.recelY vonted an .pp•• ronco of ho••acr fo~ h~.

vhol. stOtJ co be belie'ed.~.lt tb.c ·'.reb '.dlo· r ... r.ct.d to Appl.~toa. 'Wit... l •••Illl';thea a 1.,.1 WIT i ...t.t~.Ptl0. oad tr••••lttl•• f.~11ltF

vblcb o. • e, d.nce b. b • 011 9, e••••o••c.. r ••••• 0 •••• "'a ..to.i~C 0 • " ••

Page 4 . (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John William DOOHAN)

• (Cont'd) 19 ~ove~ber 1941iAB.Sig.Hal~olm Young:

"Sollie tillle during the late night r re~e1Yed a .signal by tele­phone [teleprinter??1 frolll Applec:ross Radio that read 'UKL.!.SYDNEY" i.e. that SYDNEY had come upon an ane,! raider.I a. not sure whether there was anytblng else in that sl,nal.I r.,e.ber that the sl,na1 ves receiYed late at night beeaua. theSenior Staff vare not on duty and the Depot vas quiet.I reported the sianal to the Chief Yeolllan Roly Roberts and e.. notsure vhat happaned frolll then.For all the years I have kept to lIIyaalf that I re.... ber that thaSeDior Neval Officar had thet night la.ued instructiona that onno account va~ h. to be diaturbed during the ni,ht. (Tho S'piero ficer of the Watch ab ent that ni hand ot "to b ed",vaa t 0.. .one 0t. officara flovll ill Fa..Moth A4 - to 4SFTS G.reldton thet 19 No.a.bar lIIorRin,.J I do notkaow wby that we••0. I a••irad and r ••peee.d that Officer an.have falt tbet I .hould k.ap thet iafor••tioa to .,.elf ia e•••it ehould b. har.ful to hia r.putation.rlt vaa ••b.eqqalltly 1.p­11•• a.onl Fr....tl••eval r.Rk .nd fila that eh. ab••at Officarof tlla watch In.. k.pt • U.i.on With a vo_. thet a1lht.J

-Sh~t17 .(t.~ tb.& ti•• I we. a••C to the ••val Doctor.S.~..o.1~Q n.u ......to.l.v... toh•• _. _ to tau .'1. ['I'1VeC.aJh..tl~.1 e& LoA, Potat for. -.ica l'e.t- ••at•••1bl, co ,. tr••t-.. • ~ N'aU:~- the auta........ I &Ita b.QAu.l-

"d .... ab.HceUo.~ ~;-iiOiiiliii>.'clii~1...... lIo.... _

WAM.043.0011 R---.;""1~~-'_'-~~- -- ----- - ----I " ,. lIEN NEWS 03/01'02 14 43: ltilM.-,e77;Page 4_'_"__

Page 5. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John William DOOHAN)

also a ear~ obvious that this officia11 cu~~led ~e~ord

has heen 'reatly miareprasented,by unidentified agencv:b~tween ~sb. 19 Hoyelber date tl" when COfPpral Davson 15 offi~!!llyrecorded as 'phoniD8 d.t.'15 to Garaldton's 4 SETS Duty/Intell­isenee Officer FlO Gerry Bogue and 2/1 C. Squadron Leader gricCoo ar and when it was officiall clai~ed that chose messe asusine a ,ost identice nautical militar' tezes yera really tran-s.ieted and received b Post Hastar Canaral (PKG S d cand PKG Darwin OD 4 Dec,.ber 194J. Refer Attachlllent marked' r.

aleo South Weatarn Are. Combined Headquarters RAAF Dail, Los fo;4,5.6 nec••ber 1941; a1ao .all"~ Los for 3.,.7 Nov••ber 1941). /Der.under,witb some relevant coq~ent. I relate the sequ.nce ofcho.e evenC•• beI1nn1al with implieationa ot Attachaenc' '.lAA~,"or, A22:

* Pr.vioualy publicly uadiscloaod details of proc.dur•• by whichSquadron Laader Cooper hia.elf r.eei,.d Corporal Davaoa'a iDtor

- ••cloa oa ailhe of 19 Wo.e.ber aDd to vhlch partie. it wa. di ••­a.iaseed,vill ba .ddr••••d furtb.r below acili.ial S/L/Cooper'.lu'1.ct.a r.l•••at .d'ic•••••rk.d '

• t\e .1•••1-........ coat.Dt of l£ra A22 proY1d•• ao .v1daDca'-t c.~.l'to. Aaradia ac~u.ll, .ar' tho.. p_rc1.culsr VIr a1.­

..1. rara All recor'S•••al, tbat -Aar.dio OarsIdc•• 1_ .,_'E'",77'199 -.i•• fr••••radio 8,••aY,-(H, "'~l.J

C!EN NEwS

WAM.043.0012 ROJIOIIO~ 14 4'1; Jete.&-/I'B7B;Page 4111

Pase 6. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John William DOOHAN)

Combined Head Quarters ~ho.incidentBlly,~as famillar with thecorrect spell~ns of 'Baillaiche. FlO Palmer would also have knownthat Baillatche was allegedly 'absent without official leave'fromhlS Fremontle SWAC~ pOSt throughout the night of Xovember 19.Baillalche was certainly in Geraldton that night ... ith 2 saniorIntelli ence officers of core NO and was at various times (per­haps at all times on the RAAF Base 4 SFTS fro~ where Dawson'sta or ted sl nals were' honed throD h,by S vedroll Le~der Coo arto Western Area H , erth and apparently "here a Signats Clerknds-spelled phonetically Baillaiche's nOme OIl Messase fo ..... A21./NavY's Lt/Cmdr Baillatche identifled on 19 November For .. A22.'phoned through by S/L Coope ... that Same night renders g ... eatlys~specc che official-history cloi~ that HMAS SYDNEY's ... aider act­ion ~a~ nOt suspected until late afte ... noon of 24 Nuv~mb~... whencanker MV TBOCUS picked up 2S C.... man s~ ... vivo ... s f",olll KOBMORAN atsea off Ca ... narvon po ... t .

• BAAl; Fa ..... A22 lnt ... oduction of "kIT to Mo ... se" highlights my con-tention •• t p.~,pa ... a.1 above,that the officially- ... eported rele­

vant events have been reatly mis ...~pre$enced by an affected Partr,apparently to persuade that t e signa s .ord bJ Corporal Dawsonot aI,ala not occu ... on 19 Nove~ber but.lnstead.w..... 0lficio11r~lleeed to have been heard 15 days later.on 4 Dece~be .... ana tohave been tren""1tted and received betwean PHC Darwin and pRcS,dneY c1ry.

As already ~tated.Dawaon is cl.arly identified on th. r~cord,part

-lculerly by Squadron Leeder Eric Cooper's For~ A22 report to~est.rn Area HQ on nlght of 19 No.e~ber,and ~n otber r.leventreport including Ateachment' ':which is p.41.Australian Arch­lva. GUlde ,) 'Th. Slnklna or HHAS SYDNEY' compiled bJ archivistRlchard Su~=errell.Hatlona1Offlce,Canberra in 1997.In his Introduction.SU~Derre11publishes the follOWing advic.:

""pert fto~ one IIanuacript in the NatiOnal LibrarJ of Au"tra1i•. . nO other CoaaonM.e1th _laney or inatitut.on is known to bold

:.l.vant archival .aterl.1" [aa held in "uatralla4 Archiyes CuidaI) J.Guid. ,) "rala""nt •• terial" alao c0111::a1na nllll.rOlla .rror. offact and ••••p1•• of ai,nifieanelT a.lectiva op1nion:' ..... 1' ..11' da b t. ltarat1 !··of ~lae ~1 i.ai.1 ae 0

.i .•.• h...at o •• n aport. II • .p.pa.a.6; l' a • tarat an .ppa.rinl··· ... :"[1n fact loy••b.r 241".

At eba."t I I .fti

Pag~ 1. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John Willla~ DOOHAN)

2002 relev_all ill thiso "'111 1.'1­

SYDHIY-nhtado. aDd ft C

In ap arent c tinll,n1on of the date/tia" rOil endin "H/7" aeara the hrase er hone frolll Bo ue • followed i.llllled.1atelybelo .. b ~raldton H 5 • the nonth indicator a arentl miss.:.l.!l.l.-Host unusually,for such signlficant report,the official Cb

r9nlC_

l.r of these events falls to re lS[er the date [lma rou, of thetervie ... wleh r oral D ... a1 tille groups and 50ae date

groUp~ appearinl W'lth all other entries in hereto-attached Folio11A); rovision of those art1culac5 at that crucial tt.e Cll able

f rationalisin su se lIent ar II ents as two heard what.!!h.<o..Da,,'on and hls cellpanions were interviewed,that 19 obvious Ilndther. 18 no known record or suggestion thllt ther ..ere not;hUt,thecontent of thoa. 1nterv1....s Whleh should hev. baeD e0881tlad to...r1tte8 record ha. totally disappllare~ with other greatly 'l,nif­lellot a.ter1.1 relevaot to the uninve.t1gsted deal•• of HftASSYDNEY and her ent1r. 645 Co~paft7.I aubait that Squadro. L••der Eric Cooper'.ant vritte. e.id.nt1.ry -tateaente,appe.r1ns further.y avora D.eJarat10n and 1te Attaeh••nte 'cata ao.a .aJor raaao.a vhy th.ec particular 8M!S•• tCara h.. .. oa1tted aad/or a1sre r.aaacedglOds] teSM'

,.

Page B. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John ~tlli.a DOOHAH)

Gerald ton occurred on 19 IOovel:lber and obviously [by che Sil21e rac­ord.] was reco,nised by Ceraldton AeTedlD as tr.nsmicted fro~ •,hi l at sea;~ by PHC Sydney Or PMC Dar1Jin. [Such contact.asfar.s a~ avare,would have been by land-line tel.STaph •• s clearlyIndicated at p.149.5 December 1941,51&nal eK-Dar1Jin 02302/S,SouthWest Area Combined HQ Lo. 1 Station idellti!iedas PMC Darvln& PHC S,dney teleara.s channel .• " J

Summerrell's GUide ,) at p.JS records in the V8aUest .anner thatthe UCa/Aeradlo 11 November intercepts were not: officially repor ~cad until l! November,8 days later.

In the case of Til; uea all•••d failure to report tha'Q'interceptsupon her 21 Hoyember Fro.ontl. acrl Yal.1t t. la.ain ,a.uel,Jtlal.ad (aj that Ha" P.O.Tele8raphlSt Cra~lotd Younl's releyentstlnal pad WaS not eonfiseaeed (rD. hl~ unt11 the 27th [refer p.Jabove] and (b) thereby sUflo,red that P a,rOUD' had nRF been phIs-le,11! BY'ilablo to Dl.trlet Ho"l Offlca and it. COIC fro. 11,[se 17th "py"b,r.

The Fre.entl, ahlpp1nl .rrlyal, record for 21 Ho".ber.1941,ltatsUCQ barth1.! 't 11 PO ,. 00 Shot dat' I bour .pl 2P ,ioutesaft,r Dla C.ptaln FarQuhar-Saith's 9.40 ••. • e t K.lboorne.a,.l Boar' that HHAS sfbNI • atl11 not ,rr.. at Fra.ant

WAM.043.0015_RN NEWS 03/01/021444; ltiLu..-,s77;Page fI/ll

Pale 9. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John William DOONAH)

F'u.thec e~plallatlon becollles lmQlediately necessary:The ovett reason tor P.O. Telesraphist Youn; 's navel presence inlICO was the Tus's assignment to tow the coalin; hulk,l:ELAT. f.tolllAlban1 V.A •• lO Dar v ln.Overall,rhet operation covered a ceriod of]] days·2? of thue days on very §low tow relattvch fe "In

.hor. with subs. uentl the 8 de s r .. turn tri to Fre..entle.At en, other ti .... that operation 5 W coq~unlcation requirementswould have been left to the tu.·s usual Merchant Service officer,qualified in ~or'8 telegraph, for the continsencies of their prof-8s.10n.

However.throughout Octob.r .nd in early NoYember perlod. of rELAltran.f.r to Darwln.both MO'1 end Air Fore. vere conduttin, ph,.1­~.1 .a4 WIT .~r'a1110nce of C0051dtiidble coaceatr8tion. of Jap.n­eae p••~lin. lU'I.~s and th.ir att.ndin••otb.r-.h1p•• l •.•..r.f.r ,p. 1&2 abo"•• IHay, va. not oYer.u"li.~Witk V/T op.rator. of P.O.foun.'. rec­ord.d c.lib~••ad.iG the above aerveill.nc, operation. cODdacte.fro. Shore St.tion. [ ••••• P.rtb·. lin•• P.rk "at.orolo.ic.l Stat­ioal.co-opt.' cartai. prof•••1oGal t.l••repb1.t. of PpeC ""t.,f"ppr.l'. p."rtaift.~ .pp••r. that P: .Iouna·. alov-toW-to-D.rWla ap.cial dUtl iavol

-'lad co.art V/7 _urvatlle.c. 01 thoe. J.pa•••••••••1. ab••ry••alollS tn liH'uV..t" ,hetreU.e. coe.Ut••• [!~::;;~

mY!:!.@'.'''t::t'':.19'f2.'f! ; 1C ;

WAM.043.0016 R

Page 10. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John Willi"trl DOOHAN)

by authorities 'nd others,to publicly suppress anr rational cont­[.diction of the official story.

n those ue'tionable clrcu~stances the official stor of 27 Noy­ember belate reportiol by ueo an4 eraldton ... cradio finds itselfIn co~fortable ~urr9undin8s.

Close examination of ava~lable evidence stronsly indicates tllatthe 4 Dece~ber PMG S dne IDarvin des erate miste [esentationsvOlr. a rea 10 fe aration b 2 ovember refer. 8"vIr. frau~\,Ihnt ! bilu:4 I;/n 41 crent signals and 'pllone callsoccurt!" in circ:u~stanc:es uite unrelated to the 5 doe IDafvinpnG-c:IAlmed account and fraudulent ! baaed on totally ifferent10c:14"9to 101011108 indlyiduole And Unit' id~ntlfled in RAAf '91­'9 12A Form 22 Fol19 llA SWACH Fr~mantle Da11y Los .nd coIC ass_ociated record.

:I Here,it i$ ti.ely to re.... rlr. for continulne record that His MaJeat~ -,'a TranGport AQUITAHIA is alao officially alleeed to haTe dala,

-ed her flr$t Raport,until 27 NOTe.baT, that sha had On 23 NOTa.­bet "rsscued" [captured] 26-YORHORAIf Cer ..ens froe all. iafYi'tabledinah, off CarnarTon port: that .ost tard, reSPODSe also IIS8ist­iTe of offiCial apparent efforts to 'put off' public announce­aent of HHAS SYOIIY'. loee.(Full elaaiflca.ce of 8"T AQUITARIA's WIT recaption .nd tr.as.i.s-ion ability co••••1eo und.r h••dina "politic. II, .a••ltiy. circu•• t.nc..... )

In contll1ulal.b. PtI

WAM.043.0017_Rv ..~ 011 QlN NHI$ 0310110214 44; J~'Bn;"alle 7111

:asa 11 (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John Vlliiam DODMAN)

Althoui~ SUQ~errell at his p.4l conce4as that the "descr1Ptlon of[Dawson sl lIIessages contained 1n the [SWA,CH] log sUiiests thatthey could have been transmitted by the SYDNEY .. ",he again purp­orts to support the official PMG Ilne by claiming,ac his p.40,thet RA,AF Message For .. A22 "appears to form the bllsis of theSWACH log entry for 4 December 1941."At no Lime 40es Summarrell make 10lical cOll1ment on the slmilsr1tyof the Si~nalled word 'LYkaN~' w1th che known 'Lockard'.the..!:!.L..I...0p.~'torost with HMAS SYD .Y; p .. efe .... ing the IInnotation :.J.ll£1l..::-art ,strongly. suggestive of 1nner:c1tr S,c!ney, ;'[That annotatl.on,incidentally.,ppeers as 'Leichar.!!£' ,the letter'd' appllrently fused ... ith what seellls to be intended final 't'.]

In Su ...errell's Int .. oduction at p.!l."lhis Guide describe::ll allCo••oowealth goyern.ent archi.al recorda that a ... known to 8%iston tha loss of BHAS SyDNEy •• "Fro. that aad sa~e par.graph subsequent quote. I uader~t.nd that".part tro.. One .anuscript in National Librar, of "'u~trolla, noother Co.aoAw.alth goyern.ent aseacy or 1nstitution is known to /bold r.l ••aat archl.al .at.rial."

Ther.tora,oD .y cona.qu.nt understand ins that no oth.r keownHMAS SYDNEY-r.lated eri.1oal docu.ants .%ist elaevhere, I return,lnltlallr,co ~ 0 IIA adS ••orrol~'. intorred inabillt todeduc. fbI bistorlc.ll. and r.l••antl! 81.aific'Rt P'" 9'We'tbe fro. the repaining , undA'Aled , ••ction of the docu'l.t.Fir.t,. ,U'Stlon:

Frol vhare 4id Richard Su.... rroll obtain I'll.orl,~nal Foll0 Ill. which h, [ao uncle.rlr) reproduc.d at Guida'.,.'Hi. ori.i.a1 docu••at .hOVD at p.41,"01." "Ith.rat.l! altere_by yakaova .geDty .hoald certainly hay. 'l.p1.yed vith .r••t cler-ity t~. full .a•• of W.ach., O. OV ofolte .1 f tr 1.. rc ••1' Att.t•••t ••r.to.M, .bo•• ,.6 r.fere.t. to c••fir..' .1t.ratlo. of 1.t•• t of ,£tlt­1••1 ••c ••••t '0.' .ot 1.[.r ••y ••ch .cti•••, 8....rr.ll 11r ••ar' to P.U.• 11••

••••••r ••• t'••ff1ei.l cla1. th.t DO .t'.r r.l••••t .oc••••t.ar. kao•• t •••i.t.th. circ••at.ac•• ia'ieat. tlt.e 5....rr.l1·.l1A~ r ••r.'.cti••••••y I1A .arl,.r frC"'.1 r.pr.'.et­10.~ frOID t'......rl,1••1 ••e•••• t ••• i. c••e"••••~.r' 0 A~c.lw••S.-.lrr.l1·. p••l1._•• cop, "0". ol,.lfic,.t ._••••r ••f __

:-.:,.:c:••=..~: 11•••• A.acraU•• Arc'l••• " IIAI ... 1•••c'" lc •• 1 '.'r..r, 1." at IIIAS "HaT r ....wt-d .t ,,.a__cl,'. It.l1. ...r10 ._1.,.....·em.

WAM.043.0018 R

P.llge 12. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John William DQOHHI)

Particularly do I qu~ry the alleged deterioration of Folio ItAwhen every other of the compaTitivelY few. documents retained 00that,main File AA 1969{100 l/IS/IN! is 3t~11,today in pristine"ondltloo,inc!uding RAAf MeSSaR" For~ 22A Folio 12A" the creationof Folio llA allesedlY occuring II llIere 15 days later.

Regardless of how Summerrell's Folio IIA ~as defaced and whicbagency ~as responsible, the end result vas 60 years concealment of

\

the November/December role plaYed by the then flo Wesche,[ehecrole only in 2001 revealed by his surviving lJorld .... ar 2 RAAFcolleague,my co-researcher Group Captain (RAAf.ret'd) e.A.Bournevho recogni,ed the reIDaining le~~ers,' .. sche' ,on my 1990 copy of'Folio 11A.]Ullfoldilll evidan.. e s\l&geot~ ~hfl~ Group Captain Ilul.ll"e'l; rele"antrecollection is sharper than Richard Su~ocrrell 's and tbat raisesanother question,one of several ~ore presented by Folio 11A; ~reliable are 0 1nlons and conclusions arrlyed at b the II bor iAustralian Archives Guide 3 and its further Editions?

Richard Summerrell at p.42 tndicates that he is veIL-acquaintedvith the HHAS SYDNEY loss and related events as recorded io theFremantle 10' of South W~st Area Co~bined Headquarters [SWACK. JThe claic~d cl098 acquaintance could be attained only b, diligent.~ud1 of the 10l'S HHAS SYDNEY content,Summerrell profe9s~s to haye carried out those studies snd.ofcourse,it vas .andetory .nd essential to do So to be vortby ofthe .antle of relevant authority.But it .ppears to haYe been ecursory e.a.in.tion vhen it ca.a to seakinl eyidance detrimentslto the officially sponsorsd stories.

n 4 snd 7 .o~••b.r 1941 F 0 Wesch.'s na•• rsnk and corc locetion"rs II e h

~,~ 'll ;! -, ,::,•••,:1 '.'1. ,I. ::I~h~' ': J. I"I;::-i !:::;;r. '. 9; .1pa1 h.d bl 4"."d Vh'R 1; ; ,.:. :!§,15,:i:.;;::!:i:!~i::'!!!!!;I!;::!:=11::,'::Ir:;,::,llrI,;':'::!An opoa ••••1a.tion of Arcbl~.. origlnal r0110 IIA ••••11 s ••o­eiato' .sterial ahogl. d1.,al .peculation 1n that araa •

••rerr", yet fUrther to tbe V.ach. Ko.e.ber CODnectioS with tba

:::.:I·:·:~::~:~ne::~;:~:roiP::::::.:::;·e!~:::~.P:~:':':sl:t~iJ

r.l.•, P.rtle.~'~'i'~-i'i'~'~'t'~~il~~~~

." OlT BEN "'~WS

WAM.043.0019 R03/01'0214 45; J~l1.t.L...a17;Plg.. 6/1\

Pase 13. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John WLlliam DOOHAN)

Additional to Folio llA end o[he~ ezample$ d~monst~ating falsif~

ication and misrepresentation of HMAS SYDNEY records is the RAAFMessage Forlll .0.22 or Folio IZA of File AA1969/IOO,Z/18/INT.fReferI'P·~/5 above;alao Attachment' 'enl! Guide 13.1>_40.)Folio 12.0. records the signals 'phoned through by Corporal Davsonto F/O Gerry Bogue at Geraldton's RAAF 4 SFTS,and then relayedby Squadron Leader Cooper,allegedly word for word as he dictated,to RAAF Heedquarters,~estern Area,Perth in late night of 19 Novem-ber; ~he Squadron Leader reQuesting that the informatiop be '!rg­ently passed to Navy.

~part from record ins 7 apparently separate ~nencrypted ~/T sig­nals ~ntercePted bv Da~son and his telear~phi~t ~o~panion,Folio

12A also p~rports to attrib~te to Sq~adron Leader Cooper theannotated remarks that initial intorception was of R/T [RadioTelephone] reverti.ng to Morse {.... /Tl,and that "Aeredio Geraldton /is under the 11:lpression oOlling frolll Aeradio Sydney."At Line 12 of Folio 120'\ Squedron Leader Cooper is purported tohave also informed RAAF HQWA that "eradio Geraldton.contelllpor- ~

aneoulIIly \lith DIII\lson.1ntercepted et )1.10 pm. a "Distress Sig."[froll] "Sydney c.alling Darlo/in •..• "

Ric.har4 Summerrell', Austrelian Atchives Guide 'J.ae his p.40 ~lfootnote.purports that Folio 1211 i" [And 1 quotA]' "II ."",,'S' Vtaken over the 'phone from a Squadron Leedsr Cooper by an Airforc.e 5~gaels c.lerk,Weatern Area. The eessese is undated~,Ar. to for~ the b.,1s of th .. SWACH los eotry tor 4 Der.e~ber 194f

Continuinl Su.merrell's p.40 (ootnot•• "lInootatiooa in red pellc11and tn a d~fterenc halld subsequentl,. .ppe.r to have been aade tothe tia. ,roup. an4 to the Da•• [71 'Lykard' a.ainat vhich ba.be.n vritt.n 'b.ishtrs'." (t...fer to .. ,. coe••nt, abo'/'e •• t p.ll.vhere t re.ark on en .pparent atteept to '$~ocl.te the 1no.r­Sydn.y .uburb of L.1ch.rdc vhil't app.rently ,"oidinl th••r •• tl!rel.v.n r ••n. ,urn" Losk •

• rtir.1I1.r ,. p.rt.iDeat to red panel!" .hnotatioD de.crib.d il..ed_iet.al, ebo ..e, I direct atteatioD .to the ..hal. of 18 Dece.b.r1984 Sc.tutor, Declatation ot Gordo. 'ahle, L.tter (d.e••••d).,articnl.rl, to It•• (8) vh.re be te.titie. to a ••••••• Io/rittan'8 "r.d pencil" on a IAAF •••11 .iln.l, for•• $F' '.p,r,1 snnte'E...~y '.-tllI to our lA~~•••• tor. A22 FOliO 12A,I • • r ~ • " nquiry into th. CirculIl't'Dce, 0 tae Sinkinl otH"A5 STDIlf'"p.2184 to 2186.inclu'1 .. e.)

WAM.043.0020 R

Fei'" 14. (STATUTORY OECLARATIO~ OF John Willi~m DOOHAN)

The Squadron Leader's personal Statt~ent better describes hisTer, correct end necessary relevant actions of that night. Iinclude it here 89 an integral part of this my S~orn Declarationas measure of total c;onfidence io the veracity of S<lU~lllron •Leader Cooper', freely. lllll<le Stateillent:

STATEMENT BY E W.COOPER

I,Eric \I. Cooper [ ... . .. l.state as follo~s,

1.

2.

,.

4.

s.

•

During November 1941, I was Squadron Leader Eric Cooper,ChiefFlyioS Instructor of No.4 Service Flr10s Training School(No.4.SFTS),RAAF GeraldlOD,West Australia.

On the night of Wedneada, 19th Wove.ber 1941 I was the SeniorOfficer present lit the above Unit ~hen the Adjutant of thatunit,Fl,iDS Officer Gerr, 80lue caGe to me with de~ailed

bot.a h. had Bade of • telephone conwersation he had justreceiwed froB an RAAF Corporal Dawson.

Apparentl, Corporal Dawaon with anothar air••n va. in thelouble of the Esplanade Hoatel in Harine Terraee Garaldtonvith three l.di•• li.tenibl in to a co••ercial ahort va.eradio broadcaat vhan ha he.rd tranamiss10ns in "or.e codewhich ha and the othar aira.n could ra.d and ha .ad_ nota. ofeb.a.

Corporal Davaon tban telephoned tho Station Out, Officar tbatnilht who v•• FIJihl Officer BOlso vho va. also tbo Intelltl­anca Officor a. v.ll a. Adjut.nt of Mo. ~ SFTS.and rala,adthia i_for••tion to hia .

• a the Itatio& Co••••d.r va. not .t biB ho•• and could .ot bacODt••tad.rlJi•• Officar 10'•• a.4 I tha. joi.tl, c...o••4 •....... f.08 bis ••t •• to ••••1••• to pa.. the lnfo..-tl••to .lAr ....t ••rt•••• V••t.r. Ar•• 1. 'artb.

Lat.r t~.t .t.ht I t.l••_.... HQVA •••••••••••r •••, •1.._ • li•••l. S.ctl••• I car.r.ll, .tctat_' ., t.t"e ifeal. CI••k a.' r.,•••t.' that ita co.t.at••• , ..... 1, ,. ... I ••,

...t.l, woh... t'a •...

~t by' OIT OEN NEWS, - WAM.043.0021 R03101/0214}5; 1tlCa-M877;Paga 9111

Pa8e 15. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John William DOOnAN)

(Ita. 8 of Stat~ment of !.W.Cooper eont'd):'were in Horse code

and th.t he and the other air.en could read Horse. Also that theyand three ladies haard tbe .i8nals from an ordinary short waverecei.er at the iaplanade Hoscel in Garaldton.Tbi. does bot app­.ar on Bnclosura 12A.1ha word Aaradio doe. app.ar which I did not.anU.aa.

9. It i. only recently that I ha.e slaht.d photocop~e. of paae148 of ehe South V.atarn Auatrella Co.bined H.adquartar.(SWiCK) loabook and p.a.a 40 and 41 of tb. 3rd B'itioe ofKtebar' Sua.arr.ll'. Cuid. Wo.3 "The St.kin, of IHAS StDIII"A Guida to Co••onw••~th I.eo~d. .nd .or. a,aelflea11, tb.fOo~nat•• on thoa. p•••• 40 ••• 41.

WAM.043.0022_R

Pa~e 16. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John Willia~ DOOUAN)

Squadro~ Leader Cooper's Statement clarifies that, until his 1991first s~&h~ing of F~lio 12A.he was entirely unaware of officialfalsificatl0n and mlsreprcscnration of his 19 November .it31report;i". f~ct he,hi~self,ha~ no cause. to suspect that highest­level poIlel's were already 10 play whllst he was phoning in thereport,at that pOlot tbe ongoing responsibility becoming Navy's.

That situation pertained until his 1991 introduction to Folio12A by people of the SYDNEY Research Group (SRG) with which t myself was then acquainted, although I was not present at his meet­ing \lith Dr '.":.'!'d' Strae,""'".John McArthur and Malcolm Barker.As the Squadron Leader states.he was "astonished" but also "per­ple~ed because it 'Jas not .. true account 01 that <\IeSIHlge".

As far as ! am aware.! was.the only SRG-acqu31llted person holding[Archives] copy of the Obvlously fabricated clo~elY-associaeeddocu~ent Folio ~ 'Jhich.for explicable reasons,l had not thenpassed on to the oehers.Therefore,S/Leader Cooper had nothing at that time to alert hi~to the alleged 4 Peclmbrr PMG Sydney/Darwin supplanting of his J19~ Corporal Dawson intercepts ~ess8ge. He did not sight ~

the Folto llA until Yery l.te in 2001 and ~ ",as II. copy of theallegedly damaged Archival oriRinal published by Richard Su.merr-ell at p.41 ot Auatralian Archives Guide ,3.thae [photo) copyinitially supplied by myaelf to GP Captain C.8ourne,to ",hall. S/LCooper in January 2002 directed his original State~.nt of 3 J.n-uary 2002; Gp Captain Bournll known to S/Lcader Cooper as a WorldWar 2 RAAF contempor.ry.[As at .bove p.12.Gp Captain Bourne hss b.en my co-researchersince 1995. I have bean seriously researching the sinking of

HMAS SYDNgy for .bout 30 years.]

-A ••t • • • 6

SY.IlI.,/Da>:,,, t ••I ..e.-e ann, • I •••

In more dat.l1ed e.planatlon o[ th. aboye-aention.d ~ Folio IIAcopies,mine of L2iQ acq~i.1tion identify ina FlO Wesche and Su.... ­errell'. of Uii. r"rvnptly~: prior to 117 1995 acquaint­ance with Gp Capeain Bourne I had mlal.id 117 1990 copy,thu. t.mp­or.rily leavin. ma wtth onlY th! SumlllerraU 'd,lIa"d' .xa.,J.s..",hiSh S/L,ad,E C9Ppar 1.£,r resctyed fro. the Cp C.ptain aDd r.t­err.d to 1n ht8 State.ent,.bove.A. f.r •• I •• pra••ntlY .ware,the Squadro. Le.d.r .• t ela. ofthl••~,D.c~.retton hee not aiahted a 1990 cpPt (bareto att.ched •

•• rk.d ·JTh.r'for•• ae tl •• of lIakin, hi. Stat•••nt h, vou1dh.ve bed no"." •• to r.co.ni •• hidden a.rloua lmp11cation.~!S~m.D'i gf f,h. "(n••e hhr',.d 9"')'" Without ehe II••• 'V,.eb. b.ba no tri,.er to auap.ct .a tr.udul.at tb. d.t.ced JISf··!·t.ti•• /4at••rOIiP followin. the nn••• bl."k.d out"," t. ar:l,1•• ibl••1ao tneo.pl.t. tl••14et. IroUP b.lo'" the ••notetie. p.rphona trom r/O/.o.u.... Vj,ehout the na.' 'V••eh.' the S/lo••d.r ba'1Il0 '.tare1nl ,oiat' to c,nn.ct thoae ti••/dat••r ••••"~th .et.u.117 r.C.f~.d d.e~a 0

•••.01 ••••~ !!I'~I ~/IOlto --., .:::::..:::::::

WAM.043.0023_R1 b~: wr EDIT (lEN NEWS 03/01/021445; JUfu-#977;Page 10/11

Page 17. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John W~lliam DOOHAN)

It seems from S/Leader Cooper's Statement at Item 10 that helnterp:'l!ts the :secraphone Illessage as passed by FlO Bogue to the"nallle blacked out" Whlch,Io'e now I<:n""',is Wesche; that the SquadronLeader automatically accepted that this was done on 5 ~.when 1n fact no month 1.5 indil;aced in either one of those sillle/date group$.[Refer final para.p.6 and first para.p.7.both above.]

Apart from SUllllllerrell's Guide 13 defaced and greatly suspect

IFoliO ItA there is nO record in SWACH LOB. ,nor in any other trace­able document,indicating 'phone calls or SIgnals to or fro~ F/OBOlue at any hour of S November or 5 December 1941.Neither BOlue Dor Wesc~e rec~ives B mentlon on either date.

The single 5 December reference to the falsified interception­circumstances of 19 Hove.ber KHAS SYDNEY silnals is in the SWACHLog,p.149 where it records a si8na1 ell-DerWin readinl " .. Stationidentified all PHC Darwin' PHG Sydney telegrams channel,."

The identiiying d.tes 5 & 7 [but not the identifying month I app­earinl in Folio llA are, I .llele.inteod~d to persuade Or sUlleatthat 4!l incidents claimed in Yolio IIA revolve around 5 & 7~

~.b·~~h::.foreH~~; :~~:E~u:::ai:t51as~ ~~:l~ ~:~eb:i::fl~;ejJ~o i:~t~uate We.che or BOlue and the PHG Darvin/Sydney eca. intoch~ ~WACK La, record for Hoyeeber perted.HoweYer, ver, !artuitau.lt.ther. vere rand re.ain] SWACK LOI p.93appropriate aotriea racordin. urcent telephone calls to Vesche,etcore, on 7 NoYe.ber,19~l,aDd one of those call. ia at the sv£caLac-recorded ti.a of 062SZ/7;tha .onth not ideotified by the La,antt1 1t•• lf.

WAM.043.0024 R

Page lB. (STATUTORY DRCLARATION of JOhn William DOOHAN)

Returnini to p.88 of SIlACH LOG,Ving Conmander McLean's phonecall to Wesclle was associated with the immediate co~mencement ofair~o "ration Pl/{,,: 'Ob'"ct:locate sus eClod raider-.This., erat­ion vas decided on the re ort from Geraldcoll ~ em haSls that01 I>t- 1 in 110ts Saw the Ii ht of an aircraft. Re er signalrecorded at 0 4.5 ACH Log,p. 8. Note also that SWACH Log re-cordings of HM4S SYDNEY-associated alleged signals interceptionevents often and confusingly scramble together 'E' (GMT) and 'H'rWA.Local] time/date groupS,to the ,,~tent that tlley appear assubjects of disorient8ting amendments rendering almost impossiblethe interpretation of '~rue' tim~s and s~quences of geeatly sig­nificant events;those praCliC~$ making unacceptable Summerrell'sCui4e '3 p.4Z adyice that, "The times aiyen in ~he log appearto be Z tim~ (i.e. Geeen~ich Mean Time,or a hours b~hind localFr~.. antle tillle)." .C1 .. ar e~allples of those practices affectingthe credi611Ii, of official chronicling of HNAS SYDNEY-loss circ­umstances,and SWACK recognition of thoae practices as being an"obVious confllsion",eppear at the Log's pp.l00/101.

Harking back to the nllnersla 1-!-! e~plo,ed in PMC Darvin/SJdn~,

transposition of 19 November sianala-in~ercept sources, the "quitediffereet,neverthelu$$ related 8venta of 5 & 7 Noye.ber 1941".refer ~o the ni ht of 3/4 Noyellber RAAF ni hl-li er,' 8i htin ofan unld~ULI It .1'~'~£L oV~c era d~oa an the'll sequent 1 ~o.­

eaber lligilsr nilht-si8hting e.eet over Peacce KAAF Station.

The Gera1deoD and Pearce .ilhting. resulted in RAAF ililledlat. airo erati n of 4 NoYe.b~r uet 1 7 "o.eaber the Geraldton e i oaainati alln the 4 ov •• e alr-a.arch co .. ocate aus e te raide v can•• uent ro~ec iye air oYer uat1 Koyea or orth all~ 0 -a I a A aD U B .Aa era too ~a. uti I.e a. a ce.porarr a.e or ao'. of tha 2L!oparatio.a. the C.reldton RAAr AdJucant FlO loaue lao.e daralatar ~o.tir.ad aa 10tal11a.oce Offlcer,alao) .aJ yorr well haya.ada uarecorda. phon a calla on anJ at thoaa dace•• ieelY;,., 5 Ii:.~. Aa .arliar ra.arked upon,ba do•••at 'PP'ar i. aceafiiiil p.E at a'7 ,tbar ti., pC that 'opSk.

WAM.043.0025_R03/01 /02 14 46; 1tiEM.-1I877; Page 11/11

Pale 19. (STATUTORY DECLARATION of John Uilliam DOOHAN)

it.elf,those clai•• are emphaticall, rejected by the Statement ofSlI.uecEron Leader Cooper and,e.l. ,b, the cOlltnulicfory COntent ofthe Folio 12A and,particularly,Folio IIA wbich,wtth it. other '1S-n1fieaDt eontr.diction5, I .11e.e ve. Iro•• ly i.properlr const­ructed to ut11i.e the na.e',rank',p08it1ons and then cireum.tenceof Flo Veaehe,F/O BOlue, SlI.uadron Leadar Cooper,certainl, withoutavare.e•• ancE consent of SIL Cooper.

III order to relocate the 4 to 7 November Gereldton and PearceVaach. (SVACH pp.88 to 93-collfirmed) and BOlue (probeble] tel.pb­onic i.~~ITe••llt on those detea.80 that Cpl Dawson's 19 BOTe.berailDala .ra pr••entad b, SVACH LOI pp.148/149 a. baia, PHG Darvi./Syd••, trana.ta.tons 1.tarcapt.cE b, Ceraldtoll A.raclto 011 4 Dac­eeber, I aub.it that SVACB Lo. 4/'/6 Dece.ber entri•• ar. approp­riatal, fabri~.~.d or rewrite•••S••4rDD La.cI.r Caopar t

• St.t••••t record. bi. 19 Ko•••bar racaipt••• rala7i•• ef Dew.o.'. 1I1t.rcaptio••••d .1.0 the SlI.uadro. Lead-er'. a.pbaeic d••ial th.t ha P••••d a., ••ch iafor••tia. ja Dac­••••r 1'41 •• racorclacl '7 tba IWAC. Lo••