Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

HAMILTON Ian Ayliffe MS FRCS FRACS FACS

1901-1997

Ian Ayliffe Hamilton was born, on 22nd October 1901, near Glenelg, SA.  He was the son of Frank Hamilton and Violet Elsie Mabel, nee Ayliffe. His father was a wine grower and owned the Ewell Vineyards, near Glenelg, SA. The Hamilton family were keen pioneer vignerons arriving in SA, in 1937, and the Ayliffe family were pioneering graziers and arriving in SA, in 1838. Hamilton was educated at St Peter’s College; where at the age of seventeen, he was fined for riding a motorcycle in Moseley Square, Glenelg, SA, when unlicensed. He studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating MB BS in 1924.  He initially trained at the Adelaide Hospital and Adelaide Children’s Hospital and then undertook some general practice at Jamestown, SA. Sir Henry Simpson Newland profoundly influenced him in pursuing a surgical career.  He went to England and Paris, from 1928 to 1931, for postgraduate study gaining his FRCS in 1931. When he returned to Australia was one of the founding Fellows of the fledgling Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) obtaining his Fellowship in 1933. He also gained a Master of Surgery degree at the University of Adelaide in 1933. Hamilton went to America to further his studies in 1939. He was an innovator in plastic surgery. Hamilton also brought a gastroscope back from America. He was a demonstrator in pathology at the University of Adelaide from 1931 to 1944, a tutor in surgery from 1936 and a lecturer in forensic medicine from 1940 to 1945. He also was temporarily a lecturer in surgical anatomy, from 1944 to 1945.  Hamilton married Irene Scholefield Mildred, on 3rd December 1925, at St Agnes Church, Grange, SA. She was the daughter of Lloyd Herbert Montgomery Mildred and Frances Jane, nee Scholefield. They had three children Patricia, Michael and Josephine. Two of his children became medical practitioners, Patricia, an anaesthetist and Michael, a urologist. He published extensively before the war mostly in the Medical Journal of Australia between 1932 and 1939. He enjoyed rowing, shooting and golf, being a member of the Royal Adelaide Golf Club. He had been awarded a rowing blue at the university.

Hamilton joined the Militia as an honorary captain, in the AAMC, on 17 May 1939. He named his wife, Irene, as his next of kin. He was transferred to the 2/AIF, on promotion to major on 11th February 1942, and posted to 2/2 Hospital Ship Wanganella. The Wanganella was involved in evacuations from the Middle East and Singapore. Evacuated with malaria, he was admitted to the 2/1 Hospital Ship Manunda.  However, he remained with the hospital ships until June 1942, when he was posted to 102 AGH, in the Adelaide L of C, as a specialist surgeon. He was then posted to 2/1st CCS in Australia, on 1st August 1942. Following several short-term postings and another bout of malaria, he embarked, on 7th February 1943, for Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea and was again allotted to 2/1st CCS now in Papua New Guinea. He had further admissions to hospital and returned to Queensland L of C on 6th April 1943.  Hamilton had interim postings to 102 AGH and 117 AGH. His appointment was terminated at this own request, on 17th November 1943, and he was placed on the Reserve of Officers in 4 MD on 18th November 1943.

Hamilton continued to publish papers after the war. He had appointments as Honorary Assistant Surgeon at the Adelaide Children's Hospital and at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) in 1955. Hamilton was appointed an honorary consultant surgeon at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at its opening in 1959.  After the appointment as the first Chairman of the Board of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, he retired from the hospital in 1961 and continued in private practice until he retired in 1981.  He served on the Council of the AMA (South Australian Branch). Hamilton was interested in farming and viticulture and was a director of Hamilton’s Ewell Vineyards for many years together with his brothers Eric, Sydney and Burton. Ian Ayliffe Hamilton died on 2nd February 1997 and was survived by his three 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