- Author
- Dutton, Ken, Professor Emeritus
- Subjects
- Biographies and personal histories
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- December 2009 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Professor Dutton is a member of the Arts and Library Committee of the Newcastle Club
One of Australia’s most distinguished naval officers was Rear Admiral Sir Leighton S. Bracegirdle, KCVO, CMG, DSO. Born in Balmain, Sydney, in 1881, ‘Brace’ (as he was affectionately known) served in the NSW contingent to the China Field Force during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900-1901, and subsequently in the South Africa Irregular Horse during the second Boer War.
After the war he remained in the naval militia while working as a clerk. In 1911 he joined the RAN as a lieutenant, becoming District Naval Officer at Newcastle, and the following year became a member of the Newcastle Club. In August 1914 Bracegirdle enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, and the following year was promoted to Commander. Sent to the Dardanelles as Commander of the 1st Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, he was Mentioned in Dispatches and in 1916 served with 1 Anzac Corps in the Suez Canal, being once again Mentioned in Dispatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
Bracegirdle returned to Newcastle as District Naval Officer, and remained there until posted to Melbourne in 1917, serving in the same capacity both there and, later, in Adelaide and then Sydney. He was made Director of Naval Reserves in 1923 and the following year was promoted to Captain.
In 1931 Bracegirdle became Military and Official Secretary to the Governor-General Sir Isaac Isaacs, his appointment continuing under the terms of office of Lord Gowrie, the Duke of Gloucester and Sir William McKell. In 1935, in recognition of this service, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.
He retired from the navy in 1945 with the rank of Rear Admiral, and from his post as Official Secretary in 1947. In January that year he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. He died in 1970.
On his relocation to Melbourne in 1917, Bracegirdle had resigned his membership of the Newcastle Club. He asked the Club to accept the gift of a sundial for erection in the Club grounds. Made by his father, Captain F. Bracegirdle, the sundial was computed for the exact latitude and longitude of Newcastle.
At that time the Club was housed in temporary premises, having handed over its Clubhouse to the government to accommodate medical and nursing staff during World War I. The Club Secretary wrote to Bracegirdle’s successor as Senior District Naval Officer at Newcastle, Commander Fearnley, requesting that the sundial remain in his keeping at the Newcastle Naval Depot until the Club was once again housed in permanent premises. Fearnley replied that the sundial ‘will be stored at this depot until you require it.’
The government’s promise to provide the Club with equivalent accommodation after the war was not realised until 1924, and in the meantime the gift of the sundial appears to have been forgotten.
Editors Note: At the time of publication, the Newcastle Club’s 125th anniversary was approaching and it was hoped that the sundial might still exist and that it could be erected on the Club lawn to mark the occasion. It’s not known whether the Club was successful in this.