Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

EX POW. FOUND DEAD
AT BRADDON HOME
Gregor Kimpton McDonald, 28, of Farrer Street, Braddon, was found dead in a lavatory, attached to the bathroom at his parents'  home. The late Gregor-McDonald was, a gunner, in the Eighth Division and was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese in Malaya.
The deceased was in a happy state of mind prior to the incident. The body was discovered when members of the family heard the  bath running for some time and went in to investigate.
The body was removed to the morgue and an inquest will be held next week.

VERDICT OF SUICIDE
OF G.K. McDONALD
A finding of suicide by strangulation was returned by the Coroner, Lieut.-Col. J.T.H. Goodwin, at Canberra yesterday, investigating  the death of Gregor Kimpton McDonald on December 9.
The deceased was discovered by his sister, hanging by a dressing gown cord attached to a water pipe in the lavatory. Col.  Goodwin said the act was probably due to a sudden impulse caused by the privations while a prisoner of war in Japan.
Heather Margaret McDonald, sister of the deceased, said she had laughed and joked with her brother a few minutes before. He had arranged to use the bathroom before her, but she called to her brother when she did not hear the shower running.
Finding the body in the lavatory, she supported it while her mother cut it down. Artificial resuscitation was applied unsuccessfully.
She said her brother was in the best of spirits prior to entering the bathroom and made no mention of taking his life.
Sergeant Grangell said he knew the deceased well. He came from a good home and parents. He had a very jovial nature. 
He was a prisoner of war for three years spending part of the time in the Changi camp, and working on the Burma Thailand railway.
"In my opinion the upsetting circumstances received as a prisoner of war, resulted in him hanging himself," added Sergt. Grangell.

COMRADES JOIN IN
RECORD FUNERAL OF
EX-SERVICEMAN
More than 300 relatives and friends of the late Mr. Gregor Kimpton Mc Donald yesterday attended his funeral, which is believed  to have been the largest for an ex-serviceman in the history of canberra. 'The remains were interred in the Returned Soldiers'  portion of the Canberra General Cemetery.
Two-hundred ex-servicemen marched behind the hearse as the cortege entered the cemetery.
Representatives of the Returned Soldiers' League conducted a burial ceremony Immediately following service by the Rev. Hector  Harrison and the Rev. J. Barrie. The President (Mr. R. Rowe) of the A.C.T. branch of the R.S.L. said that the service was a tribute  to a lad who had suffered terrible agonies at the hands of the Japanese whilst a prisoner of war.
A special memorial service will be conducted by Rev. H. Harrison at the Braddon Presbyterian Church on Sunday night.