HEROES RETURN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 38, 14 February 1941, Page 7

HEROES RETURN

MEN OF H.M.A.S. SYDNEY

NEARLY A YEAR AT SEA

THRILLING STORIES

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) (Received February 14, 9.20 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day.

Fresh from her triumphs in the Mediterranean, H.M.A.S. Sydney arrived on Sunday night after nearly a year at sea. During that time she steamed 80,000 miles, had more than 80 encounters with the enemy, fired 4000 shells, and withstood 60 heavy bombing attacks from the air. Not one member of the crew was lost.

Shrapnel holes in the funnels were the only signs the cruiser bore of her many adventures, but officers and men told thrilling stories of daring raids and ceaseless vigils and of the great victory against the Italian' cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the, only straight-out cruiser duel of the war.

Captain Collins said: "We were in most of the actions that occurred in the Mediterranean. While we were there the ship's company, to a man, behaved admirably. I have nothing but praise for my men and the ship. There were only a few slight casualties from bomb splinters, despite hours and hours during which the vessel was under fire. The Sydney's men encountered some very brave men among the Italians, but on a majority of occasions their High Command seemed obsessed with the idea of avoiding damage to'their craft at all costs.

"The trip home was enlivened by a little bit of excitement when the cruiser was ordered to search for a German raider in the Indian Ocean. We searched for four days without success."

For the past three days the officers and men of the Sydney have been feted. Cheering crowds estimated at more than 200,000 gave 400 of the ship's company a stirring welcome, as the men marched through beflagged city streets on Tuesday en route to a civic reception and a dinner at the .Town Hall. Coloured streamers and confetti were showered ion the marchers from crowded windows of high buildings along^fce route;