Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Gavin McGlashan was born on 21 July 1921 in Adelaide, South Australia and moved with his family to Western Australia as a child. He was one of two children born to Dr John Eric (Ricky) McGlashan and Mary Beatrice (nee Gardner). The young family lived at 17 Thompson Road, Claremont.

Gavin was 5'8" tall with hazel eyes a fair complexion and light brown hair. His brother, John, father, Ricky and uncle, Robert McGlashan's stories are on this VWMA website.

A few stories that Dad told me about the war follow.

As John was a Captain, when the brothers met, Dad could surreptitiously enjoy some of the privileges afforded to officers. Dad loved beating the system. There is a cheerful photograph of John and Gavin with Bill Bolger (a New South Wales professional golfer in John's unit) in the family collection. The threesome look totally relaxed.

In 1941 Dad was posted to Rottnest Island, a place he loved so much that he regularly returned there during his post-war life. Perhaps he stayed at Kingston Barracks and helped in surveillance at Oliver Hill where the H1 and H2 guns are still located. I know he would have loved fishing in his off-duty hours.

Dad told me that he was sent to Fremantle Prison for misconduct. He said he was put in a cell next to Germans from the ship Kormoran which had sunk the HMAS Sydney on 19 November 1941!

In 1945 Dad served at Morotai, Borneo. The Japanese were greatly outnumbered and starving as their supply chain had been cut. While Dad and other allies were watching an outdoor movie one night, a Japanese soldier crept in to the theatre to steal food. One of the US soldiers there opened fire! It caused a huge commotion, as everyone feared for their lives and ducked for cover!

Like many servicemen, Dad trained on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland. He met and married Lorna (Diana) Ferguson Gardner from Brisbane. He retrained as an Industrial Chemist at Kalgoorlie School of Mines and had four children. In his late 50s he divorced Diana and married Mrs Patricia Crowder.

Dad died in 2007, aged 86. He had loved the ocean and lived at Safety Bay. Dad's ashes were cast at Long Point, Port Kennedy, one of his favourite fishing spots.