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ACKLAND-HORMAN William Dinwoodie RANR

MB BS MFARACS

1914-1979

William Dinwoodie Ackland-Horman was born, in Adelaide, on 4th January 1914.  He was the son of William Dinwoodie Ackland-Horman and Elizabeth Mina, nee Ackland. His father was an engineer and surveyor for Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, and one of the best-known figures in shipping, in South Australia. His father was also a prominent golfer and member of the Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

Ackland-Horman enlisted in Port Adelaide and was appointed surgeon lieutenant RANR, on 15th May 1941.  He nominated his wife, Alison Cudmore as his next of kin. He was mobilised on the 17th July 1941 and appointed to HMAS Torrens and then Penguin. He was appointed to HMAS Manoora, an armed merchant cruiser of 10,000 tons. Manoora sailed from Sydney for Singapore, in November 1941, arriving there on the 6th December 1941.  After the entry of Japan into the war, the Manoora was employed on patrol and escort duties between India and Ceylon; this was the first of the ‘Stepsister” convoys returning Australian troops from the Middle East. After maintenance, in Sydney, the Manoora undertook escort duties in the near Pacific and on the Australian coast. Ackland-Horman then was appointed to HMAS Kuttabul as Medical Officer to the Garden Island Dockyard.  From July 1st, 1943 to 9th August 1944 he was again at sea in HMAS Australia, a 10,000 tons County Class heavy cruiser.  He served with Adelaide surgeon lieutenants RM Macintosh and D’Arcy H Sutherland.  Before the allied assaults, from November 1943 to September 1944, HMAS Australia was involved in bombarding the enemy-held islands in the South West Pacific, from Cape Gloucester in the New Britain area to Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies. Ackland-Horman returned to HMAS Lonsdale and Cerberus in Victoria, and his appointment was terminated on 19th April 1945. He returned to his home in Black Forest, Adelaide. His father died soon after his return on 16th June 1945.

He married Alison Cudmore Bickford, the daughter of Mr and Mrs Reginald Bickford of Somerton Park, SA, on 26th March 1942. Post war, from late 1945, letters were exchanged between the University of Adelaide, the Registrar of the University of Sydney and their Post-Graduate Committee in Medicine for Ackland Horman to be considered for enrolment in the Diploma in Anaesthesia under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. The Course never eventuated. He was granted membership of the faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal Australia College of Surgeons and then became honorary assistant visiting anaesthetist at the ACH and RAH and in solo private practice in the suburb of Ashford and at Local Government Community Ashford Hospital. Like his father, he held most senior administrative and championship positions at the Royal Adelaide golf club and represented the State on many occasions.  Ackland-Horman’s son William was tragically killed, with his new wife, on their honeymoon, in 1968. William Dinwoodie Ackland-Horman died on 19th November 1979. His wife and three daughters survived him.

Source

Blood, Sweat and Fears III: Medical Practitioners South Australia, who Served in World War 2. 

Swain, Jelly, Verco, Summers. Open Books Howden, Adelaide 2019. 

Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD