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Letters
Grandfather, Donald McKenzie, was one of the men killed in the sinking of the HMAS Canberra Dear Mr Gregory A short note of thanks for the website you have established. I have spent the morning avoiding my work and reading through the details of the sinking of the HMAS Canberra. My grandfather, Donald McKenzie, was one of the men killed. Your Christian name may have given you a special affinity for him. He was an engineer, and reading through the material you present I can only hope that his death was a swift one. His widow spoke little about her husband, and died about ten years ago herself. My mum's memories of him are few. She was only five or six when he left to join the service. Thus my brothers and I know little about our grandfather. Donald left quite a line: Mum was the only of his three daughters to have children, but she had six, and we have had fourteen with a fifteenth (my second) due in July. It is extraordinary to think that Donald was younger than I am now when he was killed. A few years ago I researched the HMAS Canberra and came across some confusion as to how it came to be sunk. At University one of us had also heard rumours of 'friendly fire.' Your site seems to confirm this. The story of your son's christening is a lovely one. The story of your time in Washington in September '01 is sobering. I did not know at the time that receiving the bell was part of John Howard's purpose in Washington. I am grateful that your flight was changed. Thank you again for your site. I will print off the story of the ship's sinking and store it. Yours sincerely,
Thank you for your kind remarks, at this time I am in Sydney. We drive home to Melbourne on Wednesday the 5th.May, and soon after our return I will give you a call at the phone number you listed. There is a particular book by Bruce Loxton, a Midshipman when we were sunk, but although badly wounded, he survived to go on and become a Commodore RAN. ":The Shame of Savo" is in my view the definitive work on our sinking, and gives the detail about us picking up a Torpedo from USS Bagley. I look forward to talking with you. Best regards,
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