Scotch College

Lest we Forget: a tribute to Hugh Randall Syme

In 1941, a modest laconic Australian arrived in war-torn Britain with several Royal Australian Naval Reserve Officers to deal with unexploded bombs and land mines. Two years of bombing raids on areas of high density left Britain’s civilian population at risk. Over the next 21 months, Hugh Syme (’22), grandson of the founder of the Melbourne Age newspaper and an Old Boy of Scotch College, performed acts of personal heroism which no doubt saved thousands of lives. Working alone because he felt it too dangerous to expose others, he carried out 19 mine recovery and disposal operations including five acoustic, eight magnetic and two acoustic-magnetic mines. He also recovered the original Type T sinker.

For his outstanding courage, Hugh Syme was awarded the George Medal twice and the George Cross – the civilian equivalent of three Victoria Crosses!! He was, by 1943, the most decorated RAN Officer.

The London Gazette of 27 June 1941 reported that Syme’s first George Medal was awarded for his coolness in dealing with ten mines, one of which exploded when it was being turned to expose the fuse. In June 1942, he was awarded a bar to his George Medal for the disposal of a particularly dangerous parachute mine which was lodged under eight feet of heavy clay near an anti-aircraft battery and water reservoir. Syme burrowed down to the mine to find that the fuse was on the other side. He then tunneled completely around the mine and defused it in appallingly cold and wet conditions. He was forced to withdraw the actual fuse by hand, an extremely risky procedure which is usually done from a distance using cords. This was the first time that such a procedure had been employed in the defusing of a mine and the collected information proved very beneficial to other mine clearance officers.

Syme was awarded the George Cross in 1943 for a series of 19 defusing tasks (one per month) the most notable was his location and recovery of a new type of German mine known as a ‘T Type’. During the clearance, he was subjected to many painful electric shocks while working in knee-deep mud. At one stage, our hero was hanging upside down in a hole next to the mine rendering himself helpless had the fuse of the mine become active.

On returning to Australia, he established an Australian Mine Clearance Section at HMAS Cerberus before leaving the service at the end of 1944 to resume his executive duties at The Age newspaper. One of his grandsons notes: ‘In 1953 Syme was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal which was a non-military medal presented to a list of achievers compiled by the various British Commonwealth Governments as a personal souvenir. Additionally, Syme was offered a knighthood by the Queen but modestly declined the honour feeling that he deserved it no more than those he had served with.’

Hugh Syme GC, GM died on 6 November 1965.

Last year Peter Macdougall, a nephew of the late Hugh Syme, offered his uncle’s memorabilia to Scotch. Peter was Captain of Melbourne Grammar in 1943 (Tom Hogg’s year as Captain of Scotch). Peter, in consultation with Dr Jim Mitchell and the Scotch team, is preparing a mounted display which will be presented by Melbourne Grammar School to Scotch College at a Memorial Hall function on 11 November 2005. All OSCA war veterans will be invited to attend this assembly and a luncheon will follow in the Cardinal Pavilion. In accepting Peter’s generous offer, the Principal, Dr Gordon Donaldson, said he would wish to display the Hugh Syme Story of Heroism in such a way that it would inspire current and future generations of Scotch boys to acts of courageous self-sacrifice and community service.

Dr Donaldson and Alan Watkinson have proposed that to coincide with the gift it would be wonderful to establish a perpetual scholarship in the name of our gallant and modest hero to provide places at Scotch for boys of quality and promise whose parents could not afford the cost of a private school education. Dr Donaldson estimates that a capital sum of $300,000 would be required to service that scholarship in perpetuity.

In November 2004, letters from Alan Watkinson and Laurie Muir were sent to a limited number of the Scotch Family. This sample resulted in commitments of $35,000 from ten generous donors.

Following the successful Old Scotch Collegians’ Association luncheon in June for those who left School prior to 1945, a letter inviting Old Boys to contribute to the Hugh Syme Memorial Scholarship was mailed by Tim Shearer in August. It is hoped that our target of $300,000 can be achieved by 11 November 2005.

The generous offer from Peter Macdougall and Melbourne Grammar School is one further reminder of the wonderful bond which exists between the traditional rivals – Scotch and Grammar.

Donations should be made payable to the Scotch College Foundation.

Laurie Muir (’42)