Hugh Randall Syme

Infobox Military Person
name= Hugh Randall Syme
born=20 February, 1903
died=7 November, 1965
placeofbirth= Kew, Melbourne
placeofdeath= Richmond, Melbourne


caption= Studio portrait of H. R. Syme c.1941
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|Australia Australia
branch= Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve
serviceyears= 1940-1944
rank= Lieutenant
commands=
unit= Royal Navy bomb disposal
battles=World War II
awards=
laterwork= Newspaper and media proprietor
portrayedby=

Hugh Randall Syme GC, GM & Bar (20 February1903 - 7 November1965) 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.

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.

World War II

He was a keen amateur yachtsman and part-owner of an convert|82|ft|m|sing=on 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, [LondonGazette|issue=35201|supp=yes|startpage=3651|date=24 June 1941|accessdate=2007-11-20] and was awarded a bar to this in 1942 after defusing a mine lodged in a reservoir embankment in London. [LondonGazette|issue=35591|supp=yes|startpage=2547|date=5 June 1942|accessdate=2007-11-20]

In 1943 he was awarded the George Cross "for great bravery and undaunted devotion to duty". [LondonGazette|issue=36118|supp=yes|startpage=3499|date=July 30 1943|accessdate=2007-11-20] 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.

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.

ee also

List of George Cross recipients

References

* Richard Refshauge, " [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160426b.htm Syme, Hugh Randall] " (1903 - 1965)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 355-356. Online edition accessed 20 November 2007

External links

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