HMAS Bungaree being returned to its pre-war configuration at Garden Island, Sydney
This drawing is of HMAS Bungaree shows her alongside Garden Island, Sydney in 1946. It is being returned to its merchant navy configuration prior to return to her owners while a crane hovers overhead. There are buildings to the right of the Jetty and a distant landscape is evident on the left.
- About John McBryde
Little is known of John Smyth McBryde who was born in Port Logan, Scotland on 30 May 1896.
During World War 2 he served in numerous ships including HMAS Ipswich.
At the time of Cessnock’s collision on 8 May 1943 HMAS Ipswich was serving in the same theatre of operations. That is, on escort and anti-submarine patrol duty in the western Indian Ocean and between the Persian Gulf and India. In May 1943 she was transferred to the Mediterranean for service as a unit of the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla. In the Mediterranean she took part in the Sicily campaign and on escort and patrol duty she steamed over a wide area of the Mediterranean.
There is a strong possibility that John McBryde either witnessed the collision or had first-hand knowledge of this event in the Red Sea.
- About HMAS Bungaree
In September 1940, the War Cabinet approved a naval mining policy which included the acquisition of a 3000-tonne merchant vessel as an Auxiliary Minelayer. The coastal cargo ship Bungaree was requisitioned for this task on 10 October 1940 and began conversion in Sydney. Bungaree was named for the Indigenous guide, interpreter and Aboriginal community leader who lived in the Port Jackson area (c. 1775–1830).
More reading
- Additional resources for John McBryde
- Additional resources for HMAS Bungaree
