Two unidentified officers inspecting a parachute deployed, German magnetic mine, which appears to ...

Accession Number P05468.009
Collection type Photograph
Object type Print
Maker Unknown
Place made United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London, Greenwich, Woolwich
Date made c 1940 - 1942
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Two unidentified officers inspecting a parachute deployed, German magnetic mine, which appears to have landed on the grounds of the Woolwich, Arsenal. The mine is intact and is partially buried nose first in the soft ground. This image is from the collection of Lieutenant (Lt) Hugh Randall Syme, GC, GM and bar, Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve who was based at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, from 1940 to 1942. Lt Syme 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. 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.