Son of Sydney William Thomas and Annie Elsie Butcher. Husband of Violet Beryl (nee Young) Butcher of Weston, N.S.W. He was killed when a Japanese midget submarine torpedoed HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney Harbour. He was 21 years of age.
HMAS Kuttabul, Royal Australian Navy - Service No. 23734
Nineteen Royal Australian Navy sailors and two Royal Navy sailors were killed in the attack.
Stoker Kenneth Francis Killeen
Stoker Leslie Joseph Dennison
Stoker Arthur William Francis
Stoker Frederick Arthur Glanford
Engine Room Artificer Walter George Gordon
Stoker Lester Richard Jamieson
Stoker Jack Edmund Numan
Ordinary Seaman Raymond Owen Venning
Stoker Thomas Joseph Watson
Stoker John Edward Gannon
Petty Officer Leonard Walter Howroyd
Stoker Norman Leslie Robson
Stoker Jack Albert Gardner
Able Seaman Leslie William Bland
Able Seaman Arthur James Smith
Stoker Herbert Arthur Smith
Stoker John Samuel Asher
Stoker William Richard Boundy
Able Seaman Frank Kirby
Ordinary Seaman David Black Trist
"In the late afternoon of 31 May 1942 three Japanese submarines, I-22, I-24 and I-27, sitting about seven nautical miles out from Sydney Harbour, each launched a Type A midget submarine for an attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour. The night before, I-24 had launched a small floatplane that flew over the Harbour, its crew spotting the American heavy cruiser, USS Chicago. Their objective was to sink the warship. After launching the three two man midget submarines, the three mother submarines moved to a new position off Port Hacking to await the return of the midget submarines. They would wait there until 3 June. All three midget submarines made it into the Harbour. Electronic detection equipment picked up the signature of the first (from I-24) late that evening but it was thought to be either a ferry or another vessel on the surface passing by. At 9.30 p.m. a Maritime Services Board watchman spotted an object caught in an anti submarine boom net. Only the central section of the boom net stretching from Georges Head to Green Point had been finished. After investigation, naval patrol boats reported it was a submarine and the general alarm was raised just before 10.30 pm. Before it could be attacked the midget submarine's crew, who had made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to break free, destroyed themselves and their craft by detonating its 35 kilogram scuttling charge. Before midnight, alert sailors on the deck of USS Chicago spotted another midget submarine. They turned a searchlight on it and opened fire but the submarine escaped. Later, gunners on the corvette HMAS Geelong also fired on a suspicious object believed to be the submarine. The response to the attack was marred by confusion. Vision was limited and ferries continued to run as the midget submarines were hunted. At about 12.30 am there was an explosion on the naval depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, a converted harbour ferry, which was moored at Garden Island as an accommodation vessel. The crew of the midget submarine from I-24 had fired at the USS Chicago but missed, the torpedo striking the Kuttabul instead. Nineteen Australian and two British sailors on the Kuttabul died. A second torpedo fired by the same midget submarine ran aground on rocks on the eastern side of Garden Island, failing to explode. Having fired both their torpedoes, the Japanese crew made for the harbour entrance but they disappeared, their midget submarine perhaps running out of fuel before reaching the submarines' rendezvous point. The third midget submarine from I-22 failed to make it far into the harbour. Spotted in Taylors Bay and attacked with depth charges by naval harbour patrol vessels, the two Japanese sailors shot themselves."
HMAS Kuttabul, Royal Australian Navy - Service No. 23734
Nineteen Royal Australian Navy sailors and two Royal Navy sailors were killed in the attack.
Stoker Kenneth Francis Killeen
Stoker Leslie Joseph Dennison
Stoker Arthur William Francis
Stoker Frederick Arthur Glanford
Engine Room Artificer Walter George Gordon
Stoker Lester Richard Jamieson
Stoker Jack Edmund Numan
Ordinary Seaman Raymond Owen Venning
Stoker Thomas Joseph Watson
Stoker John Edward Gannon
Petty Officer Leonard Walter Howroyd
Stoker Norman Leslie Robson
Stoker Jack Albert Gardner
Able Seaman Leslie William Bland
Able Seaman Arthur James Smith
Stoker Herbert Arthur Smith
Stoker John Samuel Asher
Stoker William Richard Boundy
Able Seaman Frank Kirby
Ordinary Seaman David Black Trist
"In the late afternoon of 31 May 1942 three Japanese submarines, I-22, I-24 and I-27, sitting about seven nautical miles out from Sydney Harbour, each launched a Type A midget submarine for an attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour. The night before, I-24 had launched a small floatplane that flew over the Harbour, its crew spotting the American heavy cruiser, USS Chicago. Their objective was to sink the warship. After launching the three two man midget submarines, the three mother submarines moved to a new position off Port Hacking to await the return of the midget submarines. They would wait there until 3 June. All three midget submarines made it into the Harbour. Electronic detection equipment picked up the signature of the first (from I-24) late that evening but it was thought to be either a ferry or another vessel on the surface passing by. At 9.30 p.m. a Maritime Services Board watchman spotted an object caught in an anti submarine boom net. Only the central section of the boom net stretching from Georges Head to Green Point had been finished. After investigation, naval patrol boats reported it was a submarine and the general alarm was raised just before 10.30 pm. Before it could be attacked the midget submarine's crew, who had made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to break free, destroyed themselves and their craft by detonating its 35 kilogram scuttling charge. Before midnight, alert sailors on the deck of USS Chicago spotted another midget submarine. They turned a searchlight on it and opened fire but the submarine escaped. Later, gunners on the corvette HMAS Geelong also fired on a suspicious object believed to be the submarine. The response to the attack was marred by confusion. Vision was limited and ferries continued to run as the midget submarines were hunted. At about 12.30 am there was an explosion on the naval depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, a converted harbour ferry, which was moored at Garden Island as an accommodation vessel. The crew of the midget submarine from I-24 had fired at the USS Chicago but missed, the torpedo striking the Kuttabul instead. Nineteen Australian and two British sailors on the Kuttabul died. A second torpedo fired by the same midget submarine ran aground on rocks on the eastern side of Garden Island, failing to explode. Having fired both their torpedoes, the Japanese crew made for the harbour entrance but they disappeared, their midget submarine perhaps running out of fuel before reaching the submarines' rendezvous point. The third midget submarine from I-22 failed to make it far into the harbour. Spotted in Taylors Bay and attacked with depth charges by naval harbour patrol vessels, the two Japanese sailors shot themselves."
Son of Sydney William Thomas and Annie Elsie Butcher. Husband of Violet Beryl (nee Young) Butcher of Weston, N.S.W. He was killed when a Japanese midget submarine torpedoed HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney Harbour. He was 21 years of age.
HMAS Kuttabul, Royal Australian Navy - Service No. 23734
Nineteen Royal Australian Navy sailors and two Royal Navy sailors were killed in the attack.
Stoker Kenneth Francis Killeen
Stoker Leslie Joseph Dennison
Stoker Arthur William Francis
Stoker Frederick Arthur Glanford
Engine Room Artificer Walter George Gordon
Stoker Lester Richard Jamieson
Stoker Jack Edmund Numan
Ordinary Seaman Raymond Owen Venning
Stoker Thomas Joseph Watson
Stoker John Edward Gannon
Petty Officer Leonard Walter Howroyd
Stoker Norman Leslie Robson
Stoker Jack Albert Gardner
Able Seaman Leslie William Bland
Able Seaman Arthur James Smith
Stoker Herbert Arthur Smith
Stoker John Samuel Asher
Stoker William Richard Boundy
Able Seaman Frank Kirby
Ordinary Seaman David Black Trist
"In the late afternoon of 31 May 1942 three Japanese submarines, I-22, I-24 and I-27, sitting about seven nautical miles out from Sydney Harbour, each launched a Type A midget submarine for an attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour. The night before, I-24 had launched a small floatplane that flew over the Harbour, its crew spotting the American heavy cruiser, USS Chicago. Their objective was to sink the warship. After launching the three two man midget submarines, the three mother submarines moved to a new position off Port Hacking to await the return of the midget submarines. They would wait there until 3 June. All three midget submarines made it into the Harbour. Electronic detection equipment picked up the signature of the first (from I-24) late that evening but it was thought to be either a ferry or another vessel on the surface passing by. At 9.30 p.m. a Maritime Services Board watchman spotted an object caught in an anti submarine boom net. Only the central section of the boom net stretching from Georges Head to Green Point had been finished. After investigation, naval patrol boats reported it was a submarine and the general alarm was raised just before 10.30 pm. Before it could be attacked the midget submarine's crew, who had made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to break free, destroyed themselves and their craft by detonating its 35 kilogram scuttling charge. Before midnight, alert sailors on the deck of USS Chicago spotted another midget submarine. They turned a searchlight on it and opened fire but the submarine escaped. Later, gunners on the corvette HMAS Geelong also fired on a suspicious object believed to be the submarine. The response to the attack was marred by confusion. Vision was limited and ferries continued to run as the midget submarines were hunted. At about 12.30 am there was an explosion on the naval depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, a converted harbour ferry, which was moored at Garden Island as an accommodation vessel. The crew of the midget submarine from I-24 had fired at the USS Chicago but missed, the torpedo striking the Kuttabul instead. Nineteen Australian and two British sailors on the Kuttabul died. A second torpedo fired by the same midget submarine ran aground on rocks on the eastern side of Garden Island, failing to explode. Having fired both their torpedoes, the Japanese crew made for the harbour entrance but they disappeared, their midget submarine perhaps running out of fuel before reaching the submarines' rendezvous point. The third midget submarine from I-22 failed to make it far into the harbour. Spotted in Taylors Bay and attacked with depth charges by naval harbour patrol vessels, the two Japanese sailors shot themselves."
HMAS Kuttabul, Royal Australian Navy - Service No. 23734
Nineteen Royal Australian Navy sailors and two Royal Navy sailors were killed in the attack.
Stoker Kenneth Francis Killeen
Stoker Leslie Joseph Dennison
Stoker Arthur William Francis
Stoker Frederick Arthur Glanford
Engine Room Artificer Walter George Gordon
Stoker Lester Richard Jamieson
Stoker Jack Edmund Numan
Ordinary Seaman Raymond Owen Venning
Stoker Thomas Joseph Watson
Stoker John Edward Gannon
Petty Officer Leonard Walter Howroyd
Stoker Norman Leslie Robson
Stoker Jack Albert Gardner
Able Seaman Leslie William Bland
Able Seaman Arthur James Smith
Stoker Herbert Arthur Smith
Stoker John Samuel Asher
Stoker William Richard Boundy
Able Seaman Frank Kirby
Ordinary Seaman David Black Trist
"In the late afternoon of 31 May 1942 three Japanese submarines, I-22, I-24 and I-27, sitting about seven nautical miles out from Sydney Harbour, each launched a Type A midget submarine for an attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour. The night before, I-24 had launched a small floatplane that flew over the Harbour, its crew spotting the American heavy cruiser, USS Chicago. Their objective was to sink the warship. After launching the three two man midget submarines, the three mother submarines moved to a new position off Port Hacking to await the return of the midget submarines. They would wait there until 3 June. All three midget submarines made it into the Harbour. Electronic detection equipment picked up the signature of the first (from I-24) late that evening but it was thought to be either a ferry or another vessel on the surface passing by. At 9.30 p.m. a Maritime Services Board watchman spotted an object caught in an anti submarine boom net. Only the central section of the boom net stretching from Georges Head to Green Point had been finished. After investigation, naval patrol boats reported it was a submarine and the general alarm was raised just before 10.30 pm. Before it could be attacked the midget submarine's crew, who had made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to break free, destroyed themselves and their craft by detonating its 35 kilogram scuttling charge. Before midnight, alert sailors on the deck of USS Chicago spotted another midget submarine. They turned a searchlight on it and opened fire but the submarine escaped. Later, gunners on the corvette HMAS Geelong also fired on a suspicious object believed to be the submarine. The response to the attack was marred by confusion. Vision was limited and ferries continued to run as the midget submarines were hunted. At about 12.30 am there was an explosion on the naval depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, a converted harbour ferry, which was moored at Garden Island as an accommodation vessel. The crew of the midget submarine from I-24 had fired at the USS Chicago but missed, the torpedo striking the Kuttabul instead. Nineteen Australian and two British sailors on the Kuttabul died. A second torpedo fired by the same midget submarine ran aground on rocks on the eastern side of Garden Island, failing to explode. Having fired both their torpedoes, the Japanese crew made for the harbour entrance but they disappeared, their midget submarine perhaps running out of fuel before reaching the submarines' rendezvous point. The third midget submarine from I-22 failed to make it far into the harbour. Spotted in Taylors Bay and attacked with depth charges by naval harbour patrol vessels, the two Japanese sailors shot themselves."
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