Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Bertram Ingram was born on the 18th December 1876 at Hamilton, Victoria.  He was the eldest of 4 sons and second eldest of 5 children born to his parents Alexander and Annie Ingram. 

Bertram studied medicine at the University of Melbourne from 1900-1903 then in 1904 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh LRCP (Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians) and LRCS (Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons).  That same year he graduated from the University of Glasgow LFPS (Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons).  In 1907 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh FRCSE (Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh).  This last degree was held by only 2 other doctors in Tasmania where he was living and practising medicine when WW1 broke out.  While in the United Kingdom in 1907 he served as Surgeon Major with the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in England at the barracks at Berwick-on-Tweed. 

Having moved to Tasmania after completing his studies he practised at Devonport, Launceston and at Mount Balfour during the typhoid outbreak in 1910.  His interests included clay pigeon shooting and he was a keen yachtsman and photographer. 

Bertram, aged 36 and living at Burnie Tasmania, was one of the first to enlist for WW1 on the 18th August 1914...just 2 weeks after the declaration of WW1.  His rank was Captain and he was posted to the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, C Section, with the Australian Army Medical Corps.  He proceeded to the Army Camp at Brighton and embarked on the 20th October 1914 from Hobart on HMAT Katuna as part of the 1st Australian convoy of 38 ships.  The convoy left Albany, Western Australia, on the 1st November bound for England and then France but during the voyage the orders were changed and they were ordered to disembark at Egypt.  They arrived at Alexandria on 3rd December 1914 and proceeded to Mena Camp at Cairo, arriving there on the 10th. 

In February 1915 Bertram and his Unit moved to the Kasr-el-nil Barracks in Cairo where they remained till they embarked from Alexandria on the 3rd March aboard the HMT Malda.  They proceeded to Lemnos Island and anchored off shore in Mudros Bay till 8th April when they were transferred to HMAT Suffolk.  They proceeded to Gallipoli on the 24th April 1915 and anchored off shore at Anzac Cove.  On the 28th April Bertram was transferred to HMT Galeka, also anchored off shore at Anzac Cove, where he spent the next 2 months using his skills as a surgeon to operate on the casualties after the landings on the 25th April. 

On the 15th July HMS Hythe brought Bertram ashore at Anzac Cove where he was attached for temporary duty to the 10th Battalion as Medical Officer.  He re-joined his Unit on the 15th August and 4 days later was admitted to the 3rd Field Ambulance Dressing Station with paratyphoid fever, a form of blood poisoning.  He was transferred to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station and then evacuated from Anzac Cove 2 days later on HMHS Arcadian.  He proceeded to Endsleigh Palace Hospital in London where he spent 2 months convalescing before embarking from Weymouth on the 15th November to re-join his Unit at Gallipoli on the 6th December.  He arrived just in time to help with the evacuation of the troops and 10 days later proceeded to Lemnos Island once again attached for temporary duty to the 10th Battalion.

In early January 1916 Bertram was posted to serve with the 1st Australian Division attached to the 3rd Field Ambulance at Tel-el-Kebir in Egypt.  At the end of February he was transferred to the 13th Field Ambulance who in early June, embarked from Alexandria for France on HMT Oriana.  They disembarked at Marseilles France on the 13th June and proceeded by train to Strazelle where they stayed till the 24th and then moved on to Pradelles.  In late November Bertram was promoted to Major.  Over Christmas he took leave to England and 3 days after Christmas he was admitted to Queen Mary’s Hospital at Southend-on-Sea with pneumonia.  The doctors told him that his heart was no good and that he wasn’t fit to return to France for a month.  He told the doctors that he’d noticed shortness of breath while at Gallipoli, a sign of heart trouble. 

Bertram proceeded to France at the end of January 1917 and re-joined the 13th FA (Field Ambulance) at Becordel.  In early March he was admitted to the 13th FA with mumps and transferred to the hospital at Becourt.  At the end of March he re-joined his Unit but was then transferred to serve in England as Registrar of the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford.  He remained there till 5th November when he embarked on HMAT Themistocles for return to Australia and served on duty on the voyage home.  He arrived back home in Tasmania on the 12th January 1918 and was discharged on the 18th January 1918 at Hobart. 

On the 30th August 1919, Bertram married Eileen Long at Hobart.  A month later there was an outbreak of influenza on King Island so he was sent with a team of nurses to help out.  From February to September 1919 Bertram worked at the Quarantine Station at Barnes Bay on Bruny Island where soldiers returning from WW1 were quarantined.  In late September 1921 he and Eileen welcomed a son, David. 

From 1919 to 1927 Bertram was stationed as the Resident Medical Officer at Flinders Island Bush Hospital and lived at Whitemark.  The family moved to Launceston where Bertram had a practice from 1928-1929.  In 1930 he became the Resident Medical Officer at Sorell and held that position for 8 years.  In 1936  he became the first Government Medical Officer for the Kingborough Municipality and the Channel District. 

In 1937 Bertram received treatment for heart problems from Dr James Sprent, a fellow Tasmanian whom he had served with during the war at Gallipoli and France.  In 1940 when Bertram made a claim for the war pension Dr Spent gave evidence that his heart issues were due to service in WW1 at Gallipoli. 

From 1941 to 1943 Bertram served as the Medical Officer at Brighton Army Camp in Tasmania.  During this period he served as the Commanding Officer of the 80th Australian Camp Hospital.  He also served at sick parades for the 30th Garrison Battalion at Dowsing Point, Selfs Point and Elwick Bay.

On the 31st July 1943 Bertram suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Millbrook Hospital in Hobart.  Three weeks later he suffered a second heart attack from which he did not recover and he died on the 28th August 1943 aged 66.  His funeral service was held on the 31st August 1943 at the Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium where he was cremated.  The cortege was accompanied by a military escort with the pall bearers being all military personnel and “The Last Post” was played. 

Bertram’s name appears on the Emu Bay Municipality Honour Roll found in Alexander Street, Burnie TAS.

Bertram Ingram was awarded for service in WW1 the 1914/1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and the Anzac Commemorative Medallion.

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 4th February 2022.