Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

McGLASHAN John Gardner MB BS DTM&H

1916-1980

John Gardner McGlashan was born, on 12th November 1916, in North Adelaide, SA. He was the elder son of John Eric McGlashan, a medical practitioner, practising in Booleroo Centre, and Mary Beatrice, nee Gardner. His father had served in WW1 and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry on the Somme. McGlashan was educated at Christ Church Grammar School, in WA, and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1942. He played A grade cricket for University in District Cricket competition. In 1942 he had appointments at both the RAH and ACH.

McGlashan joined the CMF, while he was a medical student, on 7th August 1940. He was called up for full-time duty from the Reserve of Officers on 27th July 1942. He transferred to the AIF at Wayville SA, on 3rd August 1942. He gave as his next of kin his father of 17 Thompson Road, Claremont, Western Australia. He initially was posted to 34 ACH but was transferred to 52 ACH and granted leave without pay on 21st August 1942, returning to his unit on 17th October. McGlashan was posted to 110 AGH, in WA, then transferred to 5th FdAmb on 5th January 1943, and, on 3rd April 1943 he was attached to 54 Inf Bn. After a brief attachment to 56 Inf Bn, a unit his father had served in World War 1, he attended a Chemical Warfare Course in October 1943. McGlashan married Kathleen Landseer, nee Martin on 16th February 1943, who was living in Western Australia at the time. She was the daughter of Mr and Mrs RH Martin of Kensington Gardens, SA.  McGlashan was posted to QLD LOC area and 1 Australian Army Corps, on 18th February 1944, in preparation for service overseas. He was posted as MO to Torres Light Battery on 16th July 1944 and embarked, in Townsville on 31st July 1944, for Red Island Point on Thursday Island arriving on 3rd August. McGlashan was evacuated to 6 ACH with renal colic on 11th November 1944. Following his discharge from hospital, he was allotted for duty with 110 AGH, in Perth, on 22nd December 1944. He was detached for duty with Marrinup POW Camp, in WA, on 19th February 1945. Wisdom tooth abscesses resulted in him being hospitalised again in March 1945. He subsequently was detached to Western Command until 21st September 1945 when his appointment was terminated and he was placed on the Reserve of Officers

McGlashan became the Chief Medical Officer for the Northern Territory in 1946. He was responsible for the Alice Springs Hospital from the Army in 1945, and later the Tennant Creek and Katherine Hospitals for the NT Health Department. He was a member of the Legislative Council from 1947.  He was fined two pounds for exceeding the speed limit in 1949. McGlashan and Kathleen divorced in 1951 and remarried Margaret Elizabeth Brown, on 13th October 1953, in Sydney NSW. He gained a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Health from the University of Sydney in 1953. McGlashan returned to live and practise in Western Australia and continued to enjoy, football, cricket, golf, tennis and swimming. John Gardner McGlashan died, in Perth WA, on 4th March 1980 and is interred in Karrakatta Cemetery. His first and second wife survived him. There is no record of any children.

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

Following on from the excellent biography by Annette Summers, John Gardner McGlashan had known issue:  6 children.

By his first wife, Kathleen Landseer Martin (married in 1943), he had: Margaret Jane, born 25 Apr 1944; Patricia Landseer, born 21 May 1946; and John Hamish, born 29 Jan 1948.

By his second wife, Michaele Margaret Elizabeth Brown (married in 1953), he had: John Gavin Stewart, born 1 Aug 1956; Pamela Mary, born 31 Mar 1958; and Keith Colin, born 8 Mar 1961.

Pratique, the newsletter of Friends of Woodman Point Quarantine Station, carries a story about John Gardner McGlashan [Autumn 2023, pg 1, available at: https://www.woodmanpointquarantinestation.com/pratique-newsletters].