Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Gordon Mathew Greig was born 13 March 1914 at Tailem Bend, the second of eight children to David Ernest and Edith Annie Elizabeth (nee Rye) Greig, grazier of Melrose. 

Gordon named his father as his next of kin and was residing at Spalding when he enlisted 11 March 1942, just short of his 28th birthday. One month later, on the 4th April, he was assigned to the 12 Anti Aircraft Battery (AAB) based at Fort Largs, but was transferred periodically to the 26 AAB based at Whyalla whose role was to protect the BHP loading jetty and shipbuilding yards against possible Japanese air and/or naval attack.

29 March 1943 Gordon was again transferred out, this time to the 103 Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment based at Loftus camp in New South Wales. This regiment was formed 26 August 1942 under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel Long. The Regiment consisted of three heavy mobile batteries allotted the numbrerd 132, 133 and 134. Gordon joined the 133 Heavy AAB (HAAB), operating Canadian built Mark 111 Q.F. 3.7 Inch Mobile Anti Aircraft Guns, capable of firing 12 rounds per minute. The gun and mounting weighed 9.6 ton, and fired a projectile weighing 28 lbs (12.7 Kg) with a ceiling of 32,000 feet (9.75 Km)

Learning to operate the guns and instruments in an Anti Aircraft Battery was very complex and would require a great deal of knowledge. The determination of the firing data for an AA gun was done in stages. The crew needed to establish the current location of the aircraft. Then they were required to determine the future position of the aircraft at the time the shell would reach it. After that they had to determine in what manner to aim the gun, after allowing for ballistic factors, in order that the shell would reach the aircraft at its predicted future position.

In May 1943, the 133 HAAB received their first warning order for active service from the Sydney AA Group. They were to protect a United States Army Air Force Heavy Bomber group flying long-range Liberator bombers from Fenton Field in the Northern Territory. They left from Sydney on the 26/27th May. The 133 movement from Sydney to Fenton would be the longest convoy ever attempted to date. The total distance covered by road and rail would be just short of 3000 miles taking a maximum of 22 days to complete. The 133 HAAB would become a subordinate unit, along with the 135 HAAB and 149 Light AAB of the 101 Composite Anti Aircraft Regiment.

April 1944, during his service in the Northern Territory, Gordon was injured but not as the result of enemy attack. The investigating officer reported that ‘Greig had accidentally injured himself while participating in organised sport’, the diagnosis being a fractured right tibia. His service records show that after his injury he was classified as B1, and when he recovered he was posted to 121 General Hospital at Northfield.

Gordon’s father David passed away in March of 1945. Gordon was officially discharged from the Army 14 July 1945. He married Gwendoline Hagger 24 March 1956 and they moved to ‘Ovaflo’, a property near Keith. Gordon passed away 29 May 1979, aged 65 years following heart surgery, and is interred at Keith Cemetery, South Australia, Bronze Lawn C33.

Excerpt from "Diggers From the Dust" (2018) Di Barrie and Andrew Bariie.