1930. He was survived by his daughters, now Reverend Mother McCay and Mrs George Reid, and six brothers and two sisters. He was given, at his request, a non-military funeral at Cairns Memorial Presbyterian Church in East Melbourne, and was buried at Box Hill Cemetery. For pallbearers he had Generals John Monash, Harold Edward Elliott, Cecil Henry Foott, R. E. Williams, and J. Stanley, along with Sir William McBeath, the chairman of the State Savings Bank; William Thwaites, his law partner; and businessman A. S. Baillieu. Among the other mourners was Generals Brudenell White and John Patrick McGlinn, who had been his deputy commander of AIF Depots in the United Kingdom; John Latham, the Leader of the Opposition; Dr W. S. Littlejohn, the headmaster of Scotch College and Sir John MacFarland, the Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. Legacy McCay is a controversial figure in Australian history. Disagreement about his significance and reputation began before his death and continues to the present. General Sir Brudenell White considered McCay to be "one of the greatest soldiers that ever served Australia, greater even than Monash." McCay's achievements included the creation of the Military Board and the Australian Army Intelligence Corps, and the development of the Staff Corps, "laying the foundations on which the Australian Army was built." In writing Volume III of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, which covered 1916, official historian Charles Bean exonerated McCay of blame for Fromelles. This led to a public debate in the pages of The Bulletin in 1929 between critics of McCay and his defenders, led by Elliott. A revival of interest in Australian military history and the rediscovery of graves at Fromelles in the 21st Century led to a number of books being written about the battle, which tended to be critical of McCay. Notes References Further reading 1864 births 1930 deaths Military personnel from County Antrim 19th-century Irish people Australian generals Australian military personnel of World War I Australian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Irish emigrants to Australia Irish soldiers in the Australian Army Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian politicians awarded knighthoods Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath Melbourne Law School alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Corinella Members of the Victorian