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Hugh Randall Syme (1903–1965)

Hugh Syme, standing beside the first German Type C aerial magnetic mine to be recovered intact

Hugh Syme, standing beside the first German Type C aerial magnetic mine to be recovered intact

Australian War Memorial, P03434.001

Mr Hugh Randall Syme, one of Australia's most highly decorated heroes of World War II will be given full naval honours at his funeral on Wednesday.

Mr Syme, 63, who died yesterday, was awarded the George Cross, George Medal and Bar for his bomb and mine disposal work.

He was a director of David Syme and Co Ltd, publishers of the Age, a former president of the Australian Newspapers Council, and a former chairman of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Melbourne.

He retired in 1963 as general manager of the Age.

A funeral service will be held at All Saints' Church of England, Kooyong, at 10.30 on Wednesday morning and the cortege will go afterwards to the Springvale Crematorium, where a service will be held at noon.

Mr Syme, who is survived by a wife and three daughters, belonged to a section of the Royal Navy which "deloused" unexploded bombs and mines during the war.

He won his first George Medal for disarming a mine which threatened a tenement area and reservoir at Primrose Hill, London. The task took him three days.

Original publication

Additional Resources

Citation details

'Syme, Hugh Randall (1903–1965)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/syme-hugh-randall-11815/text35161, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Hugh Syme, standing beside the first German Type C aerial magnetic mine to be recovered intact

Hugh Syme, standing beside the first German Type C aerial magnetic mine to be recovered intact

Australian War Memorial, P03434.001

Life Summary [details]

Birth

20 February, 1903
Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

7 November, 1965 (aged 62)
Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Cause of Death

cancer (brain)

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

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