Unidentified Body On Christmas Island
An unidentified human corpse was found on a life raft in the Indian Ocean, off Christmas Island, in 1942. The body is widely believed to originate from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) cruiser HMAS Sydney, which sank off Western Australia in November 1941, after a mutually destructive battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran. While 318 of 399 Kormoran personnel survived, Sydney was lost with no survivors from the 645 aboard. The location of both ships' wrecks were unknown until they were rediscovered in March 2008.
The body was found on 6 February 1942. It is reported that an inquest was held on Christmas Island, soon afterwards. The remains were later buried with military honours, in an unmarked grave, in the Old European Cemetery on the island. Christmas Island was captured by Japanese forces on 31 March 1942 and remained in their hands until 1945. Relevant records, including any relating to the inquest, appear to have been lost or destroyed during this period.
A RAN archaeological expedition in September–October 2006 recovered the body. Although DNA has been recovered from the remains, DNA testing to determine the identity of the body has so far been unsuccessful. Researchers are attempting to locate relatives of crew members from Sydney, for the purposes of DNA matching.
Read more about Unidentified Body On Christmas Island: Discovery, Relocation and Recovery, Connection To Sydney
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