AustLit

Hugh Randall Syme was a naval officer, bomb disarmer and newspaper proprietor. He is a member of the Syme family who were publishers of the Age newspaper.

Syme served in the Royal Australian Navy in World War II and was one of the first Australians chosen to serve in the Royal Navy's Rendering Mines Safe section.

For his work in disarming mines he was awarded the George Medal in June 1941 and bar in June 1942 and the George Cross in March 1943.

After the deaths of his father and uncle, he returned to Australia in January 1843 to become a trustee of his family company. He set up a bomb-disposal section at H.M.A.S. Cerberus, Western Port, Victoria, but the section was never operational due to the United States' control over bomb disposal in the Pacific. Syme returned to civilian life in December 1944.

In 1946 Syme was appointed general manager of the Age and two years later a public company, David Syme & Co. Ltd, was formed. After overseeing the company's entry into television in 1956, he continued as general manager until 1963 and as a director until his death.

Source: Richard Refshauge, 'Syme, Hugh Randall (1903–1965)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/syme-hugh-randall-11815/text21141, accessed 18 September 2013.