Ordinary Seaman Edward "Teddy" Sheean
Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean was born on 28 December 1923 at Barrington, Tasmania. He enlisted into the Royal Australian Navy on 21 April 1941.
After training at Flinders Naval Depot at Western Port, Victoria, Sheean was posted in June 1942 to the newly commissioned Bathurst class corvette HMAS Armidale.
On 1 December 1942, in the Arafura Sea en route to Timor HMAS Armidale was attacked three times by Japanese bombers, fighters and a float plane. Armidale was hit twice by torpedoes and the order was given to abandon the sinking ship. The aircraft returned to machine gun survivors in the water.
Teddy Sheean, although twice wounded, stayed at his post at the aft Oerlikon gun and began firing at the aircraft, bringing down one and damaging two others. He was still firing when the ship sank, drowning him. Of the 149 men on board, 47 died when Armidale was attacked, or when they were machine gunned in the water. A further 49 were eventually located and rescued a week after the sinking.
For his selflessness Sheean was posthumously Mentioned in Despatches 'for bravery and devotion to duty when HMAS Armidale was lost.' In 1987 by the Royal Australian Navy Corvettes Association erected a plaque in memory of Sheean in Corvettes' Corner at Shropshire Park, Ulverstone, Tasmania. In May 1999 he was honoured by the Royal Australian Navy when it was decided that Collins Class Submarine No. 5 was to be named HMAS Sheean. The submarine was commissioned on 23 February 2001.
Sheean's Mentioned in Despatches was upgraded to the Victoria Cross for Australia in 2020.
Now on display
The 101st Victoria Cross for Australia, posthumously awarded to Ordinary Seaman Edward ”Teddy” Sheean VC, has gone on permanent display in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial.
Members of the public can visit the Hall of Valour by booking a Galleries and Commemorative Area ticket.
View the press release
“To say it’s very special; that’s an understatement."
When Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean wrote a letter to his mother during the Second World War, he couldn’t have known it would be his last. The letter is now displayed at the Memorial alongside Teddy’s medals. It was read by 18-year-old Tasmanian Seaman Blair Allie at a special ceremony in Teddy’s honour.
‘It was so unbelievable that anyone could do it’
His rank was ordinary seaman, but there was nothing ordinary about Edward “Teddy” Sheean.
He was just 18 years old when he defied orders to abandon ship as the rapidly-sinking HMAS Armidale came under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft in the Timor Sea on the 1st of December 1942.
Investiture Ceremony
On 1 December, at Government House, the Governor-General will present the insignia of the Victoria Cross for Australia to the family of Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean.
The event was livestreamed from 11.25am on the Australian War Memorial Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/AWMemorial/
The video will be made available on ABC iView
Last Post Ceremony
The Last Post Ceremony on Tuesday 1 December featured the story of Ordinary Seaman Edward (Teddy) Sheean VC read by the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan AO RAN
A Cruel Sea: The sinking of HMAS Armidale
Jan Senbergs' series of ten drawings,acquired by the Australian War Memorial, evolved as a collaborative project between the artist and architect Col Madigan, one of the HMAS Armidale survivors.
Ordinary Seaman Edward "Teddy" Sheean
Learn about the life of Edward (Teddy) Sheean, pictured here with his brother Thomas (Mick) Sheean, on left.