City to help finance HMAS Sydney II book

A new book combining elements of the search for the HMAS Sydney II and the commemoration of the men lost in action is to be published with the financial help of the City of Greater Geraldton.

The city council yesterday agreed to contribute $10,000 from its local studies publication budget towards the book, “The Search for HMAS Sydney: An Australian Story”.

It is being prepared by the not-for-profit University of New South Wales Press literary fund.

The council was told past directors of the now-closed Finding Sydney Foundation have been working with UNSW Press on the collection of stories relating Australian efforts to find the resting place of the HMAS Sydney II and its nemesis, the German raider, HSK Kormoran.

The book’s planned publication date would be mid-2014.

Also yesterday, the city council adopted a conservation framework for the HMAS Sydney II Memorial.

The framework is intended to help council make decisions on the management and long-term planning for the memorial, and safeguard its position as a high-profile community and national asset.