PITCHER, Cyril Frederick
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 October 1914, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Major |
| Last Unit: | Army Medical Corps (AIF) |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 14 June 1887 |
| Home Town: | Goodwood, Unley, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peter's College and University of Adelaide |
| Occupation: | Medical Practitioner |
| Died: | Natural causes, Medindie, South Australia, 12 May 1955, aged 67 years |
| Cemetery: |
North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide University of Adelaide WW1 Honour Roll, Hackney St Peter's College Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Oct 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Dec 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 2nd Light Horse Brigade Field Ambulance, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: '' embarkation_ship: '' embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 16 Dec 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, 2nd Light Horse Brigade Field Ambulance, HMAT Borda, Brisbane | |
| 7 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, 2nd Light Horse Brigade Field Ambulance, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 14 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Major | |
| 5 Jan 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Major, Sea Transport Staff, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '24' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Jan 1918: | Embarked AIF WW1, Major, Sea Transport Staff, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 16 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Major, Army Medical Corps (AIF) |
Biography
Published Biography
Blood Sweat and Fears: Medical Practitioners and Medical Students of South Australian who Served in World War 1, C Verco, A Summers, T Swain & M Jelly. July 2014
Additional Biography
Early Life
Cyril Frederick Pitcher was born on 14th of June 1887, the son of the Reverend John Garlick Pitcher and Mary Butler at Medindie, Adelaide, SA. His birth was registered (SA Birth Registration99/468) as Frederick Cyril Pitcher and he was baptised under that name at St. Andrew's, Walkerville, SA on the 4th of September 1887.
Schooling
Cyril attended St Peter’s College, Adelaide where he passed his Junior Examinations in 1902 and Senior Examinations in 1904. In March 1905 Cyril passed Special Senior Examinations having studied with the Tutorial College.
Adelaide University
Cyril commenced studying medicine at Adelaide University in 1906 and his MB BS was conferred in December 1911.
University Sport
Football
Cyril played football for the Adelaide University side in the Adelaide and Suburban competition in 1907 and in the Amateur League in 1911.
Early Career
After graduation Cyril was a resident medical officer at the Adelaide Hospital and a provisional Captain in the Australian Medical Corps (October 1912).
In early 1914 Cyril became acting quarantine officer at Port Victor (Victor Harbor) and locum tenens in the absence of Capt. F.J Douglas. On Douglas’ return in October 1914, Cyril was given a farewell at Goolwa.
World War I
Cyril enlisted on the 19th of October 1914 and his war service is well documented in the ‘Blood Sweat and Fears’ biography above. The photograph (see document) shows the interior of Captains William Angus Fraser and Cyril Frederick Pitcher's dugout at Gallipoli in 1915. Both men were medical officers with the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance. The image is from the collection of Major David Gifford Croll, also of this unit.
In October 1915 Cyril was considered unfit for general duties and returned from Egypt to Australia.
While in Melbourne on 6th of December 1916, Cyril was photographed with a group of other South Australian returned servicemen and hospital staff at Luna Park.
Cyril returned to active service overseas but fell ill again in 1917. While in England recovering his health, Cyril married Isobel Dorothy Elizabeth Warren Gilchrist at St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens, England on the 4th September 1917. Isobel was the daughter of Mr N Gilchrist, of South Africa.
Cyril returned to Australia, departing from England on 10th of September 1917 and then re-embarking for England again on 5th of January 1918.
Cyril finally returned to Australia on 11th of April 1919 onboard the Balmoral Castle, and he was accompanied by his wife on the final leg of the journey from Capetown, South Africa. Isobel’s address was Mulder's Vlei, Cape Colony, South Africa.
Career and Family Life
In July 1919 Cyril purchased a two seater Ford car and in August 1922 when at Manton St, Hindmarsh he purchased a 10.4 FIAT.
Cyril and Isobel’s daughter Sonia Helen Pitcher was born on 10th of May 1923 and their son, John Warren Gilchrist Pitcher was born on 13th of June 1925.
In March 1923, Cyril was appointed an honorary medical officer at the Mareeba Babies Hospital (established in Woodville in 1917 to look after sick babies) and from 1933 he was appointed to the hospital’s advisory committee.
By 1928 Cyril was a golfer and he played in the doctor’s golf tournament at Seaton that year.
On the 7th of February 1935, Cyril left onboard the Ormonde to “inquire into and report on infant and child welfare in the United Kingdom and Europe”. Cyril and Isobel were away from Adelaide for about 10 months. They returned from Liverpool, England on the 7th of September 1935 onboard the Ascanius (Blue Funnel Line), bound for Adelaide.
In 1936, Cyril had the misfortune to be called to a patient’s home and as a consequence, he had to appear as a witness in a murder case.
Cyril was appointed to the Medical Council of the Mothers and Babies Health Association of South Australia in April 1938. Sonia and John both played in the Age Tennis Tournament in December 1938.
World War II
Cyril was 52 at the outbreak of WWII and he continued with his medical practice in Adelaide throughout the war.
Sonia attended Woodlands CofE Girls Grammar, passing her Intermediate examinations in 1939. In March 1941 it was reported in the papers that Sonia Pitcher, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. C. F. Pitcher, of Medindie is planning to nurse at the Royal Adelaide. Until she is called up she is filling her days with V.A.D. (Volunteer Aid Detachment) work, helping at the Cheer-up Hut and sewing for the Red Cross. Sonia enlisted in the Air Force (SN 96612) on the 28th of May at Adelaide. She was a W.A.A.F transport driver and was discharged on 6th of October 1943. In 1945 Sonia was a munitions transport driver and she became Miss City Red Cross in August that year.
Tragically for the family, on the 25th of August 1943, Isobel Dorothy Elizabeth Warren Pitcher (born 1896) passed away, aged 47.
John was undertaking studies in elementary wool classing at the School of Mines in 1943. Days after his mother’s death, on the 28th of August 1943, aged 22; John Pitcher enlisted as a Private in the A.I.F. (SN SX33130). He was discharged on the 4th of September 1946.
Sonia and John’s WWII records are at:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4965557
and
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6263204
Post World War II
In January 1947, Sonia became engaged to Kenneth Brice McMichael. The couple married in 19th December 1948 at St Peter’s College Chapel. Sonia passed away on 30th of April 2017, aged almost 94.
John became engaged to Joan Valmai Brewster, the daughter of Mr and Mrs J. Brewster of Kapunda in October 1948, they married in November 1949 at St Peter’s College Chapel. The couple lived on a property near Yankalilla, SA.
Death
Cyril Frederick Pitcher passed in hospital in Adelaide aged 67 on the 12th May 1955; his last abode had been at Medindie. He is buried at the North Road Church of England Cemetery, Nailsworth.
Submitted 15 June 2025 by Eleanor Filmer
Biography contributed by Annette Summers
PITCHER Cyril Frederick MB BS
1887-1955
Cyril Frederick Pitcher was born at Medindie, South Australia on the 14th June 1887, the third son of Rev John Garlick Pitcher J.P. and Mary, nee Butler who was the sister of a Premier of South Australia Sir Richard Butler and the aunt of Sir Richard Layton Butler who also became Premier of South Australia. Pitcher was educated at St Peter’s College, and graduated in Medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1911. He served in the militia as a captain in the Light Horse Field Ambulance in 1912 and the Reserve in 1913. At the time of his enlistment in the AIF he was a medical practitioner at Victor Harbor.
He applied for a commission in the AIF on the 19th October 1914 as 27 years old, single and living at 23 Erskine St, Goodwood Park. He stood 6ft 1ins tall, and weighed 14st. He was single and his brother Ronald Owen Pitcher was his next of kin, later Mrs. Isabel Warren Elizabeth Pitcher, his wife, c/- W Gilchrist Esq, ”Marindalk”, Mulders Vlei, Cape Colony, South Africa. He embarked from Brisbane with 2 LHFdAmb in December 1914. He did not go to Gallipoli with 2LHFdAmb when it first landed in May, but remained at Mudros. He went with the second landing on the 3rd Aug 1915, but was immediately detached to 3 Bn for three weeks and then to 5 LHR for 10 days. Pitcher was evacuated to Egypt in September 1915 with sciatica, a condition with which he had suffered prior to enlistment. This was followed by jaundice. He was declared unfit for general duties for six months, and served with 1 ASH from March to August 1916. He was promoted major on 14th November 1916 and posted to 2 ACCS at Trois Arbres, France. Soon after the Battle of Messines, Pitcher developed renal disease, and was sent back to England. He rejoined his unit in August, but soon became ill again and was sent back to Australia in September 1917. He returned to England on the Borda in January 1918, but disembarked in Cape Town to spend 2 months with his older brother Richard Charles Pitcher who had enlisted in the South African medical corps as a private soldier. His brother had been in the 4 FdAmb with a short active service from February 1916 until he was diagnosed with carcinoma of the tongue from which he died on the 18th May 1919. Pitcher reached London in April and, in October 1918, was posted to 3 AAH. He returned to France and joined 7 FdAmb. All five Australian divisions were then in the Fourth Army rest area around Abbeville, and in the first week of November moved up towards the front line again. They were spared further combat by the Armistice. Pitcher returned to London in January 1919, and sailed for Australia in February with his AIF appointment terminated on the 16th June 1919. Pitcher was issued with the 1914-15 Star, The British War Medal, and the Victory Medal
Pitcher set up practice at Hindmarsh, South Australia on his return. He was appointed as Hon Medical Officer to the Mareeba Babies’ Hospital, with Drs Helen Mayo and Frederick Neill Le Messurier in 1923 and they made a lifelong association. They contributed to important advances in the care of sick and particularly premature babies. He subsequently became Chairman of the Board of the Babies Hospital. He lived at Dutton Terrace, Medindie South Australia. Cyril Frederick Pitcher died in 12th May 1955 in Adelaide.
Source
Blood, Sweat and Fears: Medical Practitioners and Medical Students of South Australia, who Served in World War 1.
Verco, Summers, Swain, Jelly. Open Books Howden, Adelaide 2014.
Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD
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