Alex was born in Burwood and soon after returned to Hill End where for a short period of time enjoyed an adventurous childhood on his family’s property, then, due to his father’s health issues stemming from being mustard gassed in the First World War they returned to Sydney where he attended Fort Street school.
Then, at the tender age of 13 and his childhood cut short, his parents decided to send him to Flinders naval depot in Melbourne. His dislike for this place was immense, barely being able to talk about what he endured there. Nevertheless, he excelled in all areas of learning and training and was relieved that after a few years was transferred to HMAS Creswell at Jervis Bay where he became College Captain and completed his commission. As the threat of war increased many young men missed their teenage years and were fast tracked into reality and on the 26/1/1939 Alex was posted to HMAS Canberra. He was only 18. They then immediately sailed for England and became engaged in the various theatres of war, serving on numerous ships, HMAS and HMS Shropshire, Nizam, Vendetta and Stuart just to name a few. During this period he continued to gain qualifications, experience and rank, quickly progressing to being in command of warships whilst still not even 20 years old.
Although at war the good experiences and unending travel to new and interesting places somewhat made up for the horrific experiences and scenes confronting most people in the same situation that they had to face. After many years at sea, enduring the horrors of war and dealing-with things like the terrible and dangerous weather of the North Sea, there was also the moments in history where he was present like the sinking or the German battleship the Graff Spee in Montevideo and also the testing of the first atomic bomb.
In 1945 finally the war ended and, like most people all they wished for was to return home to family and friends, so with surviving friends and associates returned to Australia.
In the next years a continued naval career kept Alex occupied until in 1953 he met and married the woman of his dreams, Margaret Bagot, the resided in Sydney until a posting to Canberra moved them closer to rural NSW and in 1955 their first daughter Prue was born.
After surviving the war, all Alex dreamed of was to own a rural property and much to Margaret’s surprise, as she had envisaged the life of a naval officer’s wife, and in 1956 he purchased Trafalgar Hill in the Braidwood district. Here they started building and developing the property and in 1957 their son Stephen was born. After several years, he was requested to return to the Navy and in 1966 they started to live a split life between Trafalgar Hill and Canberra, where he was required to work for Navy, then moving into the Department of Defence and the Joint Intelligence Organisation. This also required visits to Vietnam during the war. His life was full and interesting and in 1965 their second daughter Elizabeth was born. Life continued on and it wasn’t until1973 the continual travel made them decide to return permanently to Trafalgar Hill.
The next part of Alex’s life was taken up pursuing his love of farming and he took on a raft of community positions including Tallaganda Shire Council and -Southern Tablelands County Council as he believed that contributing to the community was important, continuing in many roles into his mid-70’s. At this point a further change of direction was made with Alex and Margaret starting to spend a lot of time on the coast where they spent time with Prue until she passed away and visiting Sydney to see Elizabeth and family but always managing to spend time at his favourite place Trafalgar Hill. Their life continued in this manner until Margaret passed away unexpectedly in 2009, Alex continued to live on his own until several years later a stoke left him partially incapacitated and he agreed to be moved to a nursing home in Wentworth Falls close to Elizabeth and family. Here he, under the watchful and caring eyes of Elizabeth enjoyed life to the fullest with daily visits and outings arranged by his wonderful family. We all thought he would live forever and joked about him wanting to be 100 and get a letter from the Queen but unfortunately this was not to be. Something changed and in a few short weeks his decline was swift and irreversible.
It was wonderful that in a few short days most of his family getting to see him and on the evening of 9th August he passed away.
Over his lifetime he experienced more than most, and his contribution to society will be surpassed by few. The awards and honours he received are too numerous to mention but were not the reasons for his motivation.
To us he was an amazing and special person to be admired for the standards and examples he set and a person whom we all continue to try and live up to his expectations
~ by Stephen Black.
Preview in Apple Music
Preview in Apple Music
ADB on HMAS Nizam, entering Alexandria Harbour.