Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Keith Harris, Doctor, 1920 - 2005

Keen observers of the Anzac Day march in Sydney may recall a proud, portly character, beaming broadly from his wheelchair, waving his cane like a victory sabre, as his daughter pushed him at the front of the 2/14 Field Regiment.

Keith Harris - "the Colonel", or "Doc"- who has died at 84, was a gentle soul with an infinite capacity for friendship, who lived life to the full. An enthusiastic and intelligent man, he could have been almost anything, but his love of humanity and the circumstances of his life largely decided his career as a doctor.
 
Keith's family were early settlers of the Tumut district but his father, Clement Wallington Harris, left the family property of Wermatong to take up a career in a bank. Keith was born in Grenfell and spent his early years in Hillston. Clem was a survivor of Gallipoli and Beersheba, who married an English nurse, Agnes Florence Hills, in Egypt during World War I.

Unfortunately their union could not withstand the rigours of civilian life and Keith was left the only child of a broken marriage while still very young. He attended The King's School, Parramatta, and while other boys returned home for the holidays, he often remained at school, surrogate son of then headmaster and Anglican minister Charles Parkinson. Throughout his life, Keith loved King's like family and remained a committed Christian.

After school he entered the faculty of medicine at the University of Sydney and signed up for the University Regiment of the Citizen Military Forces (army reserve). The army was a family tradition stretching back to his colourful great-great-grandfather, Sir Thomas Noel Harris, a brigade major with the 18th Hussars under Wellington during the Napoleonic Wars.

With the Japanese advance Keith abandoned his studies to join the 2/14 Field Regiment - the "Broken Eighth" - as a gunner. He fought in New Guinea and New Britain and achieved the rank of sergeant. He was something of a raconteur and there were few subjects on which he was reluctant to talk but, like so many who fought, the war was one.

Keith left the full-time army after the war to resume his medical studies, but remained with the CMF throughout his active life. There he rose to the rank of colonel and commanded the 7th Field Ambulance and the CMF's One General Hospital in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968 he briefly took up active duty again, as leader of a volunteer surgical team in the Vietnam War hotspot, Long Xuyen.
 
Keith was also an active member of Legacy for more than 50 years, and after his retirement became chairman of the Manly-Warringah branch.

As a doctor he soon developed a passion for public health, particularly the treatment of tuberculosis, initially in Perth and then in Sydney where he quickly rose to become the director of the TB division of the NSW Department of Health. He was offered the Commonwealth position, but declined for family reasons.
 
Under his 20-year directorship, a statewide surveillance network for TB was greatly expanded. So successful was it that a state of relative complacency developed, against which he argued strenuously - a concern vindicated by the recent resurgence of TB.

He was able to continue his commitment to TB control long after his so-called retirement both within Australia, as director and life governor of the Community Health and Anti-TB Association of NSW, and internationally, as secretary-general of the International (Eastern Division) Union Against TB and Lung Disease.

Keith was a member of St John Ambulance for almost 50 years, and held a number of executive positions. He was director of the NSW branch in the 1990s, and made a Commander of St John in 1992.
 
His combined medical and military interests made him a natural choice as doctor at two international Scout jamborees. He was later asked to become NSW commissioner for handicapped Scouts.

Keith held this position for 25 years and found it very satisfying, especially as he achieved the integration of handicapped Scouts into regular jamborees.
 
Keith was aware of the strains his dedication to career and community could have on his family life; that he also became scoutmaster of his sons' group, 2nd Epping/St Albans, showed how he was able to combine the two. Like most of the challenges he assumed, he did so for the long haul, in this case long after his sons had left the movement.

During the 1960s and '70s he spent many rowing seasons at his beloved King's filming the crews for training purposes. To honour his commitment an eight was named "the Keith Harris"; it went on to win three GPS Heads of the River.

He was president of King's Old Boys Rugby Club for almost 20 years, and the subdistrict third division trophy became the Doc Harris Cup. In 2000 he received a Commonwealth Award for sporting achievement.
 
A penchant for good food, wine and cigarettes took its toll on his health, but he never let that diminish his enthusiasm for community involvement. In fact, when he developed diabetes a decade ago, he took this as a sign that he should become involved, and he was chairman of the Manly-Warringah branch of Diabetes Australia for several years in the late 1990s.

In 1999 he was made a member of the Order of Australia for his services to medicine and public health, particularly the prevention of tuberculosis. This was one of half-a-dozen community awards he received.
 
A thanksgiving service for his life was held in The King's School chapel. As was noted in a eulogy, Keith Harris "certainly had a life worth living, and he lived it and loved it to the full".

He is survived by his wife Barbara, three children and five grandchildren.

Sydney Morning Herald (www.smh.com.au)