MCGREGOR, David
| Service Number: | Commissioned Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 January 1915, Medals - 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | HMAS Goorangai |
| Born: | Buckie, Scotland, 5 February 1894 |
| Home Town: | Mortdale, Hurstville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Fisherman |
| Died: | Accidental Collision with MV Duntroon, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia, 20 November 1940, aged 46 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" At Sea |
| Memorials: | Plymouth Naval Memorial, Queenscliff HMAS Goorangai Memorial |
Biography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of James and Jessie McGregor; husband of Helen McGregor, of Mortdale, New South Wales, Australia.
Commissioned Warrant Officer David McGregor was born in Banffshire, Scotland. David was from a seafaring family and he went fishing from an early age from Aberdeen with an uncle. In 1926 / 27, David came to Australia as 1st mate with his uncle, the master, on the steam trawler Beryl. His wife, Helen, and their two children, James and Elsie (Helen), followed him in 1927 on the old First World War troopship Themistocles. They settled in the Sydney suburb of Mortdale, and David worked as a fisherman, captaining the trawler Goorangai in the waters off New South Wales.
On the outbreak of war, the ST Goorangai was taken over by the Navy Board and sailed to Williamstown by David as delivery captain and stayed with ship while being fitted out for minesweeping. David, who was a member of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve, reported for active duty and remained captain of the Goorangai in its new role.
David served in minesweeper trawlers and warships HMS Leander and HMS Dreadnought during World War One in the Royal Navy Reserve and his medals went down with Goorangai.
ERA Gilmore was married to David MacGregors’ wife’s cousin. CERA Green was married to another of David’s cousin’s daughter.
For the family of David McGregor, more sorrow was to come when James, his eldest son, was lost on board HMAS Canberra in 1942
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