Hugh Randall Syme
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| Hugh Randall Syme | |
|---|---|
| 20 February 1903 – 7 November 1965 | |
| Place of birth | Kew, Melbourne |
| Place of death | Richmond, Melbourne |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve |
| Years of service | 1940-1944 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Royal Navy bomb disposal |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |  George Cross George Medal and bar |
| Other work | Newspaper and media proprietor |
Hugh Randall Syme GC, GM & Bar (20 February 1903-7 November 1965) was an Australian naval officer, bomb disposal operative and newspaper proprietor. He was awarded the George Cross for his actions in defusing unexploded bombs and landmines during the Second World War. Syme is one of only two people to be awarded the George Cross, George Medal and Bar, the other being John Bridge.
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[edit] Early Life
He was born in Kew, Melbourne and educated at the University of Melbourne. His father was a journalist on the city newspaper The Age which is still being published and which the family owned: Syme himself worked on the paper until the outbreak of war.
[edit] World War II
He was a keen amateur yachtsman and part-owner of an 82 foot yacht, and joined the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve on the outbreak of war. He was posted to England and ended up at HMS Vernon, the Royal Navy's mine disposal and developing mine countermeasures establishment. He won the George Medal in 1941 for defusing a series of mines,[1] and was awarded a bar to this in 1942 after defusing a mine lodged in a reservoir embankment in London.[2]
In 1943 he was awarded the George Cross "for great bravery and undaunted devotion to duty".[3] He had carried out nineteen mine-recovery operations. The most important had taken place in November 1942 at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where he defused a new mine known as a Type T. He had to hang upside down in a mudhole and endure painful electric shocks while insulating the wires for the detonator. His George Cross made him the most decorated member of the Royal Australian Navy at that time. He returned to Australia in 1943 and set up a mine disposal unit at HMAS Cerberus. However the unit was not used operationally, as the US Navy controlled mine clearance operations in the Pacific area.
[edit] Later Life
He returned to The Age and became general manager in 1946. He continued in senior posts in newspapers and broadcasting for the rest of his life. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953 but turned down a knighthood, feeling that he had performed no more than his duty. Hugh Syme died on the 7 November 1965 from a cerebral tumour at Epworth Hospital, Richmond, and was cremated with Anglican rites and full naval honours.
[edit] See also
List of George Cross recipients
[edit] References
- Richard Refshauge, Syme, Hugh Randall (1903 - 1965)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 355-356. Online edition accessed 20 November 2007
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35201, page 3651, 24 June 1941. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35591, page 2547, 5 June 1942. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36118, page 3499, July 30, 1943. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
