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The Legacy of Mac Gregory - An Officer and a Gentleman - Rex Williams
Extracted in part from The Three Headed Dog, the Newsletter of the Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Victoria Chapter September 2014 During August 2014 [one] of our WW11 Veterans ‘Passed Over the Bar’. On 27 August 2014, we lost our Vice President/Historian LCDC Mac Gregory. Mac Gregory was my close friend and colleague. Truly an Officer and a Gentleman, always anxious to help in any way he could. Generous to a fault, he happily spent hours researching families’ requests for information on a loved one’s Naval service. He was an excellent speaker and author ever ready to promote our Navy and her people. Fiercely loyal to the concepts and objectives of our Naval Historical Society, he was a past President and served as one of my Vice Presidents, offering advice and support where requested. His ‘Ahoy Website’ is testament to his dedication to Navy and her people. We are delighted that it will continue. Another legacy left to us by Mac is the ‘Answering the Call’ project which is so near to coming to fruition, and which will be located on the foreshore at Port Melbourne. Mac signed the contract with the sculptor shortly before he died and we look forward to its completion early next year. This 7’6” (230cm) bronze state of a sailor in ‘round rig’ is being erected to symbolize the man thousands of naval servicemen and women who left our shores to serve their country, particularly remembering those with the PM prefix before their service number who left from this site. The statue will be situated almost opposite the exact site of the former HMAS LONSDALE and will be set on a one metre granite block. This project was begun over 10 years ago by Mac and his friend, Don Boyle, and it is being brought into being by the Naval Heritage Foundation of Australia Inc. of which Mac was the President. Mac’s story is available on his Web log. Please visit it. He was a brave and resourceful sailor who served his country with distinction both in war and peace. Tribute articles to our Mac Gregory are in the course of being prepared and will be available in due course. His was a fascinating Naval career. Rex Williams The Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. |
