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Australia

DAWKINS Alec Letts OBE KStJ ED MCh FRCSEd FRACS

1905-1975

Alec Letts Dawkins was born, on 9th August 1905, at Hamley Bridge, South Australia. He was the second son of Sydney Letts Dawkins OBE, a general practitioner and Esther Marie Dorothea Roediger. He was educated at Prince Alfred College and studied medicine, at the University of Adelaide, graduating MB BS in 1927. While at university he won a half blue for lacrosse and was an inter-varsity captain. He also joined the CMF AAMC in 1923. After his resident medical officer year at the Adelaide Hospital he went to Edinburgh University, in 1931, and gained his FRCSEd. He returned to the Adelaide Hospital, as a surgical clinical assistant, in 1932, and concurrently, as an honorary assistant pathologist. He had developed an interest in pathology which he retained for the rest of his life. Dawkins became one of the first doctors to gain the FRACS. He then went to Liverpool to study for the MCh in orthopaedics, returning to Adelaide in 1939. Dawkins then moved to Perth as an honorary assistant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Perth Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. Dawkins married Muriel Lee-Steere on 24th April 1940, just before he enlisted in the Army. She was the daughter of Ernest Augustus and Bridget Lee-Steere.

Dawkins enlisted on 31st May 1940 and joined the 2/7th FdAmb at the rank of Major. He served in Libya, Greece and Crete. When in Libya, in late December 1940, he was assigned as the liaison officer on the staff of the ADMS where his role was to maintain contact with the RMOs and the advanced dressing stations. After the Battle of Bardia, he continued as the liaison officer to the ADMS and remained in Libya. He replaced Major Saxby as DADMS of the 6th Division, 25th January 1941.  The AIF was expanded in early 1941, and Dawkins continued his appointment to the medical directorate as ADMS with the rank of lieutenant colonel. During his time at the AIF headquarters in the Middle East, he was recommended for the Order of the British Empire.  He served briefly from May 1942 to July 1942 as CO of the Hospital Ship Oranje and later ADMS Advanced Land Headquarters. Dawkins, at the rank of colonel, was posted as ADMS 5th Australian Infantry Division in November 1943 to September 1944, serving in Papua New Guinea where he was Mentioned in Despatches. He was appointed DDMS from 1944 to June 1945 and Director of Medical Service 1st Australian Army until his retirement, on 14th November 1945, at the honorary rank of brigadier.

Following the war, Dawkins was appointed an Officer in the Order of the British Empire in January 1947, and he was made a Knight in the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 1959. He continued his interest in the military and was appointed Honorary Colonel to the West Australian University regiment, in 1962. He returned to the Royal Perth and the Princess Margaret Hospitals as an honorary surgeon and orthopaedic surgeon to the Repatriation General Hospital. Dawkins developed the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Royal Perth Hospital and was its first chairman. He was elected President of the Australian Orthopaedic Association in 1965 to 1966 and elected a Fellow of the British Orthopaedic Association. Dawkins had many other interests and was a member of the BMA, the Medical Board of Western Australia, the RCS, the Physiotherapy Board and the Medical Committee for the Commonwealth Games in Perth, in 1962. Alec Letts Dawkins died on 7th August 1975, in Forrestdale, Western Australia.  His wife and five sons 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