World War I Honours and Awards Website

Captain E Lloyd Davies MC - Buckingham Palace   

Award at Buckingham Palace
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Alexander Rowan MACNEIL DSO MC and Bar

MACNEIL
Date of birth27 February 1894
PlaceHawthorn, Victoria, Australia
ParentsAlexander and Jane Peden (nee Purves) Macneil
Date of death14 October 1953
PlaceAt home at 16 Alfred Street,Kew, Victoria, Australia
Age59
Scotch Year(s)1907 to 1911

Service record and post-war life

Rowan Macneil was an outstanding sportsman at Scotch, representing the school in first teams in Athletics in 1910 and 1911, in shooting in 1910 and 1911 (school and state champion in the latter), and in the premiership-winning football team of 1911. He was a Second Lieutenant with the 48th Battalion of the militia on the outbreak of war. His civil occupation was ironmonger and he was 5 feet 6 inches tall. On 28 April 1915 at 21 years of age he was appointed a Lieutenant in the AIF. He sailed from Melbourne with the 21st Battalion on 9 May 1915.

On 29 August 1915 Rowan left Alexandria for Gallipoli on the Southland, which was torpedoed. He survived and served on Gallipoli, returning to Alexandria on 7 December 1915. He was briefly hospitalised with diphtheria and tonsillitis in Egypt in February 1916. Rowan arrived at Marseille, France, on 26 March 1916. At the end of June he participated in a raid by a selected party of 6th Brigade men. The raiders reportedly killed 80 Germans and took five prisoners, for the loss of seven killed and 15 wounded [reference to raid in his service record reproduced below].

Rowan was promoted to captain on 23 July 1916. He was wounded in action, with a gunshot wound to the legs, on 26 August 1916 at Mouquet Farm, during the Battle of Pozières. Rowan was evacuated to England on 5 September 1916. The London Gazette announced on 26 October 1916 that he had been awarded the Military Cross in the action in which he was wounded. The recommendation is reproduced below. ‘Though wounded,’ said his citation, ‘ he stuck to the command of his company till wounded a second time on the same afternoon.’ He was said to have set a fine example to his men under fire.

In January and February 1917 Rowan was treated at field ambulances for furunculosis (boils). In August 1917 he was detached to the 6th Training Battalion in England. He returned to the 21st Battalion in France on 8 March 1918. He was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross (that is, a second Military Cross) on 18 June 1918. Rowan was promoted to Temporary Major on 5 August 1918, amid the hectic advances of that period. On 29 August 1918 he was wounded in action (gassed) and evacuated to England. On 16 September 1918 the London Gazette announced the award of a Bar to his Military Cross. This was for ‘conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty’ at Ville-Sur-Ancre, near Albert on 19 May 1918. The recommendation is reproduced below. His citation said that on reaching his objective in an attack, after two other officers had become casualties, Rowan supervised his company’s digging in. On reaching the second objective, having reconnoitred the positions, he determined that a withdrawal was necessary. He organised this and coolly helped with digging in. Only on the last day of September was Rowan able to rejoin the 21st Battalion in France.

On 13 October Rowan was transferred to the 24th Battalion, perhaps because the 21st was very depleted after the recent offensives. In March 1919 Rowan sailed for Australia, where on 5 July 1919 his appointment was terminated. Rowan graduated MA (1924) from Melbourne University. At Ormond College’s Theological Hall (1924-26) he received his Certificate of Education. From 1925 to 1934 ‘Spray’ Macneil was the third modern Chaplain (one is known in the 19th century) of Scotch College. The nickname ‘Spray’ came from his way of saying ‘let us pray’. He was ordained as a Presbyterian Minister in 1927. A much-loved Chaplain, he also formed the Scotch College Scout Group in 1926.

During World War II he enlisted in the Second AIF, and was chaplain to the 2/29th Battalion. He was captured in Singapore but survived the war to be released from Changi in 1945.

Appointed chaplain general in 1947, Rowan was made a full commissioner of the Boy Scouts in 1950. Following a lengthy period of ill health, he died suddenly at home in Kew on 14 October 1953. Scotch’s Rowan Macneil Scout Hall was named for him.

Rowan had married Alice Allan (d. 1991) in Melbourne on 7 August 1923. Their son James attended Scotch.

Photographs and Documents:

macneilAR

Reference to Rowan Macneil’s part in a trench raid in June 1916.

macneilAR

Recommendation for Rowan Macneil’s Military Cross

macneilAR

Recommendation for the Bar to Rowan Macneil’s Military Cross

Sources:

  1. Australian War Memorial – Honours and Awards
  2. Mishura Scotch Database
  3. National Archives of Australia – B883, VX39150
  4. Scotch Collegian 1917, 1918
  5. The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=184239

Page last updated: 11 November 2015