Vale

Bruce was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, on November 18, 1949. One week after his 17th birthday in 1966, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). At the time of his enlistment, he was working as a labourer. Upon entry, he was posted to HMAS Cerberus in Westernport, Victoria, for recruit training. On completion of his recruit training in February 1967, Bruce was rated as an Ordinary Seaman Radar Plotter.

His first ship was the Daring-class destroyer HMAS Vendetta, which he joined in Sydney on March 11, 1967, along with 46 other Ordinary Seamen—including two Thursday Islanders and one Papua New Guinean rating from Mount Hagen. Vendetta was under the acting command of the highly popular Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Eric Johnson. Johnson later served as the Senior Naval Officer in Darwin during Cyclone Tracy and was eventually appointed Administrator of the Northern Territory.

When Bruce joined Vendetta, the ship was preparing for a refit at Garden Island Dockyard. It was a happy ship, and Eric Johnson placed a strong emphasis on crew participation in sports; teams from the vessel competed in a wide range of sports against other units throughout the refit period.

Bruce’s time on Vendetta was brief. In June 1967, he joined the Battle-class destroyer HMAS ANZAC for four months. ANZAC, a Korean War veteran, served as a training ship with the primary role of training junior officers and seamen. During his time onboard, the ship made regular training cruises, visiting Tasmania, Melbourne, Fiji, and Tonga for the coronation of the country’s new king—a remarkable first taste of sea life for a young man from Toowoomba.

Bruce spent the last two months of 1967 on the guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart, which was undergoing a refit in Sydney. In January 1968, he began his Radar Plotter’s category courses at HMAS Watson. He was rated as an Able Seaman Radar Plotter 2 (ABRP2) in May, and after completing his course and taking leave, he joined the fast transport HMAS Sydney in August 1968. The following month, he was advanced to ABRP. Bruce served on Sydney for a year, during which the ship completed three voyages to Vietnam. For this service, he was later awarded the Vietnam Logistics Service Medal and the Returned from Active Service Badge. While serving on Sydney in 1968, he submitted a request to volunteer for submarine service.

In 1969, that request was approved. Bruce travelled to the United Kingdom to undertake submarine training at HMS Dolphin in Gosport. He was subsequently posted to HMAS Ovens, where he qualified as a submariner and was awarded his “Dolphins.” He served on Ovens until 1973; during that time, the submarine made visits to New Zealand, New Caledonia, and to the Far East on a Strategic Reserve deployment.

In 1974, Bruce joined HMAS Onslow, where he famously—along with the late Able Seaman Cook John Simounds—was captured by the South Vietnamese Army. The submarine was transiting past the outer southern Vietnamese islands when flares were spotted. The Commanding Officer, believing they were distress flares, had Bruce and John swim ashore to investigate. Upon landing on an island, they were immediately captured by the army and held for several hours while negotiations for their release took place.

Bruce discharged from the RAN in the late 1970s. He moved to Alstonville in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, where he worked in the Taxi Industry and where he later operated a wholesale fish distribution business. He joined the SAA in January 1999 and remained an active member of the naval community in the Ballina district and Rotary for the remainder of his life. He was a regular attendee at the Annual SAA Conference - SUBCON.

In early April 2026, Bruce suffered a stroke and he was transferred to the Gold Coast Hospital, where he passed away after three weeks of treatment.

The SAA extends its heartfelt condolences to Bruce’s partner Cecilia (Shorty), his daughters from his previous marriage, his extended family and friends.

Bruta (Taxi) McLennan’s funeral is to be at Guardian Funerals, 74 Kalinga St, West Ballina at 1400 Friday 1st of May. Yep, this Friday. Suits and medals please… There is to be a poppy service. Refreshments will follow at either the RSL or Bowlo… To be advised.