Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

20/08/1914

Date of Discharge

18/02/1918

Place of Enlistment

Melbourne, Victoria

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

18/09/1895

Place of Birth

Kew, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Victoria Street, Brighton, Victoria (previously Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT)

School(s) Attended

Scotch College (Melbourne, Victoria)

Occupation

Student

Next of Kin

Hugh McCay (father), Victoria Street, Brighton, Victoria

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

12 Field Artillery Brigade AIF

Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 4 October 1917, page 2626, position 51)
Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 27 August 1917)
Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 4 October 1917, page 2623, position 6)

McCay entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon with the second intake of cadets on 7 March 1912. He was a member of the guard of honour at the Canberra naming ceremony on 12 March 1913 but was discharged as medically unfit at the beginning of 1914. He was a nephew of James Whiteside McCay who commanded the 2nd Brigade and later the 5th Division. He enlisted in August 1914 and left Australia as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 2nd Brigade Ammunition Column. McCay served on Gallipoli where he was promoted to Lieutenant before being evacuated with enteric in October 1915. He joined the 4th Division Artillery in Egypt and was posted to its 46th Battery in the 12th Field Artillery Brigade. After being promoted to Captain and arriving in France, McCay transferred to the 2nd Division Artillery and was given command of the 20th Battery with the rank of temporary Major. This came after he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his service on the Somme during November 1916 to January 1917 when his battery were wire cutting near Flers. In May 1917 he was promoted to Major but was wounded the following month and sent to hospital in London. In February 1918 McCay transferred to the Indian Army and joined the 17th Cavalry in India and in 1920 he married an AIF nurse, Ruby Prentice. He served in India and Burma during World War 2 and as Chief of the General Staff in Pakistan (1948 to 1951) and Chief Military Adviser (1951 to 1953) in Pakistan before retiring in 1953. McCay died at home at Guildford, England on 4 April 1969.

 Description - height 5 feet 8½ inches, chest 34½ inches.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
AWM Collections Record : P03954.001
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
Scotch College World War 1 web site, www.scotch.vic.edu.au/ww1/honour/mccayRC.htm
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Honour Guard at the Canberra Commencement Ceremony', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial