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BYRNE Alfred Dudley MB BS FRCOG FRACOG

1905 - 2001

Alfred Dudley Byrne (Dudley) was born, on 10th May 1905, at Coobowie, on the Southern Yorke Peninsula, SA. He was the son of Alfred Norman Byrne and his wife Emily, nee Hookings.  He was educated at Adelaide High School and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating MB BS in 1927.  Byrne played lacrosse and tennis for the University and honed his manual skills as an architect’s draftsman.  He completed his residencies at the Adelaide Hospital, in 1928, the ACH, in 1929, the Queen’s Home (QVMH), in 1930 and Parkside Mental Hospital, in 1931.  He was the first medical superintendent, Metropolitan Infectious Diseases Hospital, Northfield from 1932 to 1935.  He entered general practice at Hindmarsh, in 1936, and was appointed honorary assistant obstetrician at the QVMH, in 1939.  Byrne married Roxy Sims, daughter of Dr Roy Lancelot Sims, dentist, and his wife Gertrude, nee Hime, on 12 Jan 1940.

Byrne served in the Army Cadet Corps at school and then in 10 Bn, CMF.  Because he was a champion horseman when he enlisted into the AAMC in 1934, he was posted as MO 6 Cav FdAmb and then RMO 3 LH Regt in 1936.  He transferred to 2/AIF, in October 1939, and posted as RMO 2/27 Bn.  Byrne was promoted to major in June, 1940 and was instrumental in raising 2/8th FdAmb; he recruited widely, including a pipe band, whom he trained as stretcher bearers.  He went to the Middle East in December 1940 as senior major and OC B Coy 2/8th FdAmb, 9 Div. Because 9 Div replaced 6 Div in Cyrenaica in March, 1941, B Coy 2/8th FdAmb was sent the furthest west and south to Marsa Brega and El Agheila in the Gulf of Sirte.  When the Afrika Korps offensive began, 2/8th FdAmb withdrew across Cyrenaica.  Byrne, avoided the German ambush at Wadi El Fetei, near Derna, and travelling overland by day and by night took B Coy to Tobruk intact. 2/8th FdAmb was sited in Italian storage tunnels, at Fort Solaro.  Byrne, to improve patient comfort, installed the wind ventilators from sunken Italian ships in the harbour.  He sustained a leg injury and was evacuated from 2/4th AGH, by night, during a bombing raid and then on HMAS Vendetta, to 2/2nd AGH at Kantara.  Byrne returned to Tobruk and, in September 1941, worked with the Free Polish Army, later receiving the Polish War Medal.  2/8th FdAmb left Tobruk in late October, 1941.  Byrne was posted registrar, 2/1st AGH at Gaza, to prepare the unit for the inspection by General Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief, Middle East.  Byrne returned to Australia, in March 1942, and was promoted lieutenant colonel and posted as CO 2/7 FdAmb 6 Div, which had lost 160 personnel in Crete. Byrne redeveloped 2/7th FdAmb, to a very high standard, in the Adelaide Hills, and subsequently in NT and QLD.  He was sent to Shaggy Ridge, PNG, above the Ramu Valley, for several weeks in 1943.  He reinjured his leg in June, 1944 and was downgraded medically, and, at his specific request, was transferred to the R of O in Aug 1944.

Byrne returned to civilian practice and topped the MRCOG exams in 1950 and made FRCOG in 1961.  He was appointed an honorary assistant gynaecologist at the RAH, in 1951 and one of three honorary obstetricians at the new QEH, in 1954, and an honorary consultant obstetrician at the QVMH.  He was appointed an Emeritus Obstetrician at QEH, in 1959.  He retired from the RAH, in 1965, and was made Emeritus Gynaecologist. He was made a Foundation Fellow, RACOG in 1978. Byrne was an accurate and careful surgeon in an era of significant gynaecological oncological operations.  He served on the Australian Regional Council, RCOG and, state committee chairman.  An excellent teacher, illustrator and medical historian, with a kaleidoscopic memory, he served on the History and Heritage Committee, RAH, for 15 years.  He was also an enthusiastic deep-water fisherman including in Bass Strait.  He became the oldest member of the Rotary Club of Adelaide (Paul Harris Fellow) and of the Naval, Military and Air Force Club, of SA.  Alfred Dudley Byrne died after a short illness, on 21st May 2001, aged 96, survived by his two sons, one a surgeon, and a daughter.

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