Obituaries Australia

John McMillan, no date

Supplied by author

Another dear and respected member of the Society has departed our ranks. John had been admitted to the John James Memorial Hospital in the A.C.T. and after a short but rapid decline, passed away peacefully, I am pleased to say, on Thursday 25 November.

My friendship of John came about through following up the manuscripts and photographs of the late J.L. Buckland Collection deposited with the National Library in Canberra some 10 years ago. John, together with his late brother Barry (Victorian Division, A.R.H.S.), whilst still young boys, had been curiously interested in collecting Melbourne's tram numbers, then graduating to an interest in railways and locomotives. They had the bonus privilege of seeing the transition of Melbourne's suburban train services from steam to electric traction during the 1920s, living at the time near Camberwell Station.

John attended Melbourne Grammar and later, Trinity College of Melbourne University, occasionally managing an afternoon of 'spotting' from the original footbridge across North Melbourne Yard where one could watch the intense coming and going from 'Loco' and all the local, country and interstate traffic movements, before the infernal diesel had been adapted to haul trains in this country.

Of small stature with intense laughing brown eyes, this jolly fellow rose from the position of cox in the Uni rowing team to receive double honours in French and German, together with a Law Degree, becoming a highly distinguished recruit in the Department of External Affairs based in Canberra in 1937. This posting gave him the opportunity to regularly travel behind those marvellous streamlined pacifies that 'Clever Harold' Clapp had had modified to haul the new Spirit of Progress. John maintained a running log of these trips in 8"x 10" card format. Likewise he could also produce similar cards of other famous journeys, European, transAtlantic and Exotic.

Early in the Second World War (1941) John took a posting in Washington as Third Secretary to the Australian Legation (Quote John: otherwise known as the 'Cypher Clerk' or 'dogsbody'). In mid winter 1943 he was transferred behind the Eastern Front in Russia by a contorted route flying via Florida, Trinidad, Ascension Island, Gold Coast of Africa, Sudan, Cairo, Abadan, Tehran, Baku and Astrakan to Stalingrad, being delayed there some days by the weather. This was just eight months after the battle of Stalingrad. Finally John arrived in Moscow after some 35 days where he remained throughout the duration of hostilities. John's duties during this period of 1943-46, were primarily involved in the protection of Polish interests, making frequent journeys into the Ukraine.

This appointment had come about as Canberra had mistakenly believed John could speak Polish!

More diplomatic postings included Karachi in 1948-49 at the time of separation from India - no facilities existed here prior to this posting; Paris 1949-51; returning to Moscow as Charge d'Affaires at the Australian. Embassy 1951-53; joining the United Nations' Visiting Mission to Togoland West Africa 1955 as the Australian representative; Djakarta 1955-58; returning to Canberra as Head of several branches within the Dept of External Affairs 1958-60; followed by appointment to ambassadorial roles in Israel 1960-62; Chief of Protocol Canberra 1962-65 & Ambassador to Brazil 1965-70. Whilst in South America John managed to visit Venezuela and Ecuador. When questioned about the mountainous topography of this place, he stated "it was perpendicular"! He then served in Ghana 1970-73; Turkey 1973-76 and Malta, where he concurrently served as representative to the Vatican. He was later pleased to be able to say he had known three Popes!

These excursions did not always allow time for his (and our) favourite interest, but he did get to photograph the rack railways of Brazil, New York Central's streamlined J3s on the Century, the super power experimental George H. Emerson 4-4-4-4; reversed rear cylinder 350psi water tube boilered high stepping racer of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. On an excursion to Roanoke, Virginia, to view the articulated giants of the Norfolk and Western Railroad in coal haul service, he was recalled to Washington for urgent cypher duty at 2:20 am, much to the suspicion of the hotel clerk!

German Kriegsloks were photographed (at great risk) in the Ukraine as well as in Turkey years later, ETAT compound 4-8-2s of the S.N.C.F; British Vulcan-built freight engines in Nigeria; and Western Region Castles in the U.K.

John's historic photographs of local railway stations here on the Monaro and Southern Branches of N.S.W. have been generously loaned for reproduction and were recently featured in a local heritage display. Similarly his interstate records were made available to those other state divisions of our Society. Several public libraries have benefited from his generous donations of collected railway magazine titles that were generally complete runs from the 1940s, including our own A.C.T. Division Library at Queanbeyan.

Such a distinguished career in the diplomatic service has been recorded by the Australian National Library in several hours of recorded oral history tapes now maintained for posterity. The social circle of V.I.P's and the Sargent's Mess of the Canberra Club where he was indeed guest of honour on several occasions, never kept him from enjoying the company of others where in the twinkling of an eye he could recount some distant event in a humorous recollection.

John was a close knit family man who dearly missed his late wife Beatrice after she died in 1991. His daughter Margaret and son-in-law David kept close contact, being also in Canberra with two grandchildren he was intensely proud of, regularly telling this correspondent of their sporting and academic achievements.

John's name may not have been familiar to all current members of our Society. However, one can find even in recent years, his letters to several Bulletin editors regarding a comment on some historical query. His recollections on many names of our founding fathers of railway history has enlightened us to the characteristics of railway enthusiasm. Just a few weeks ago he told of the 'grubby old' Sydney steam trams to Kogarah and of those who photographed the same.

His memorial service at the Canberra Crematorium was attended by many close friends and several representative members from our Society. John M. McMillan has taken the last train now departed.

References;

[ 1 ] Personal interviews with John over recent years.

[2] Oral history tapes held at the National Library of Australia made by Ken Russell Henderson from 28 October 1985. Transcript No. 1913/1-4.