Williamstown General Cemetery
- Country Australia
- Total identified casualties 61 Find these casualties
- Region Victoria
- Identified casualties from First & Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: -37.85298, Longitude: 144.88077
History information
Within this civil cemetery there are 61 identified casualties of the Second World War. 27 served in the Royal Australian Navy, 25 in the Australian Army, 8 in the Royal Australian Air Force, and 1 from the Merchant Navy.
On 24 January 1941 an unidentified sailor from the HMAS Goorangai was recovered and also buried in an unmarked grave at this cemetery. HMAS Goorangai was the first RAN vessel lost in the Second World War, after a collision with HMAT Duntroon in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. The Goorangai was cut in two and sank in less than a minute with the loss of all hands. Only six bodies were recovered. The graves of three identified members of the crew are buried close to the grave of the unidentified sailor. Two identified sailors are buried elsewhere in Melbourne.
Those sailors from HMAS Goorangai who were not recovered and identified, are now all commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial to the Missing.
In 2014 the Office of Australian War Graves became aware of the burial of the unknown sailor at Williamstown General Cemetery and the grave was appropriately marked with an official headstone.