Thomas Welsby Clark
Thomas Welsby Clark | |
|---|---|
Clark in 1940, as an Ordinary Seaman on HMAS St Giles | |
| Born | 28 January 1920 |
| Died | c. 19 November 1941 (aged 21) |
| Cause of death | Killed in action |
| Body discovered | 6 February 1942, off Christmas Island |
| Occupation | Sailor |
| Known for | Only body recovered from sinking of HMAS Sydney; previously unidentified decedent |
S4449 Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark was a sailor in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), whose body was found on a life raft in the Indian Ocean, near Christmas Island, on 6 February 1942.
Before his body was identified, he was widely believed to originate from the RAN cruiser HMAS Sydney, which sank off Western Australia in November 1941 after a battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran. While 318 of 399 Kormoran personnel survived, all 645 members of the Sydney crew were lost. Clark was formally identified by DNA analysis in 2021, and the RAN publicly released his identity on 19 November 2021, the 80th anniversary of the battle.