Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

A.B. Peter Graham STOCKER R.A.N.          

Service Number: 57809                                              

DOB:  5.7.1943                                                

Enlisted:  13.3.1961

Ships: Cerberus,  Quickmatch,  Sydney  & Voyager

Last Posting: Voyager 1.12.61 to 10.2.64

Killed in collision between HMAS Voyager with HMAS Melbourne in Jervis Bay - Aged 20 years

Peter’s father worked as a fettler maintaining the East -West railway during the war years. It was his contribution to the war effort, so Peter spent his toddler years living at a railway siding on the Nullabor.

As an indication of his adventurousness in later life, he wandered off into the bush and caused a serious scare to his parents. He was found by the aboriginals living in the area and brought home.

After the war the family returned to their tiny hometown of Cowell, 500km west of Adelaide where Peter spent his life prior to joining the Navy. He did the usual activities a country boy did in those days – football, swimming, rabbit trapping, crabbing and speeding about in cars.

He was always daring and adventurous so it’s no wonder that when attending Post Office training school in Adelaide, he (and several others in the course) decided that the Navy or Army was a much more interesting way to spend life than a career in the post office.

Peter loved the Navy. He stated he intended to sign up forever. He loved the adventure and the travel and felt lucky to be in the service in peacetime. He was looking forward to the next tour on the Voyager to the Olympics in Tokyo.

He had trained to be a navy diver. He could hold his breath for longer than anyone we knew and could swim like a fish. That’s how we knew he hadn’t survived the Voyager sinking when he was reported missing.

His death left his parents changed forever and his eight sisters and brothers confused and heartbroken.  They lived so very far away from Jervis Bay, it didn’t seem real. News and support were scant, and closure, if there was any, for the families of those lost in that particular disaster took many, many years. He is remembered for being a handsome, adventurous and happy young man who fully lived his very short life.