Group portrait of the Australian Naval Coronation Contingent gathered at Pirbright, England. ...

Accession Number P05468.006
Collection type Photograph
Object type Print
Maker Gwyer Gibbs
Place made United Kingdom: England
Date made 1953
Conflict Period 1950-1959
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Group portrait of the Australian Naval Coronation Contingent gathered at Pirbright, England. Lieutenant Hugh Randall Syme, GC, GM and Bar, Royal Australian Navy (formerly of the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve), is seated in the front row sixth from right. He rapidly developed a reputation for bravery, especially in delousing the unfamiliar German magnetic mines. He was awarded the George Cross and the George Medal and Bar for a string of successful mine recoveries between 1940 and 1942. In January 1943 he returned to Australia and was appointed as the Commanding Officer of a bomb disposal section at HMAS Cerberus. He left the Navy in 1944, returning to the family business of running The Age newspaper in Melbourne.