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BRUMMITT Donald William MB BS DO

1913 – 1978

Donald William Brummitt was born in Adelaide, SA, on 12th March 1913. He was the only son of Dr Robert Douglas Brummitt and Mary, nee Morgan. He was educated at Prince Alfred College and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide graduating MB BS 1938.

Brummitt joined the Army on 14th April 1939 and was commissioned as a captain on 13th October 1939, enlisting in the 2nd AIF on 7th November 1939. He was living in Victoria Avenue, Dulwich at the time. He embarked for overseas in May 1940, as RMO to the 2/10th Bn.  He was reported on the dangerously ill list in June 1940 with cellulitis of the neck and evacuated to a Military Hospital, in Glasgow, Scotland. He re-joined his unit 2/10th Bty, and embarked in the UK for the Middle East, arriving in Palestine on 31st December 1940. He was wounded in action with a bullet wound in his right elbow, and evacuated to 11 AGH on 15th August 1941. Allotted to 9 AGH from 2nd October 1941, he contracted entero-colitis which required further admissions to hospital. He was then allocated to 2/6th FdAmb in January 1942 and returned to 4 MD Adelaide on 18th March 1942. Promoted to major on 13th June 1942 he embarked from Brisbane, with 2/6th FdAmb for PNG on 7th August 1942. He served on the Kokoda track, in Papua New Guinea, and ran the Efogi evacuation staging post. The medical facilities along the Track were forced to withdraw towards Port Moresby, and his medical team moved to Nauro then to Ioribaiwa. The battle of Ioribaiwa took place in September 1942 during the Kokoda Track campaign. Brummitt returned to Australia in January 1943. He was involved in a military vehicle incident in Queensland in June 1943, and sustained a fractured jaw, and was evacuated to the 2/2nd AGH. He returned to Port Moresby on 27th September 1943 and was again wounded in action on 15th January 1944. However, he remained on duty with 1 AGH. Brummitt was promoted lieutenant colonel on 6th September 1944, and commanded 15th FdAmb in Bougainville. He was then posted to 2/1st AGH and discharged 26th June 1946. He was Mentioned in Despatches for his service in PNG which was awarded on 6th March 1947.

Following the war, Brummitt married widow, Elizabeth Margaret Minchin, nee Ashwin, on 17th January 1946. She was the eldest daughter of Arthur Malcolm Ashwin and Mary Turnbull, nee Macdiarmid of Unley Park. Brummitt then followed a career in ophthalmology and studied at the Eye and Ear Hospital, VIC, from 1950 to 1951.  He returned to Adelaide and was a consultant ophthalmologist at the RAH.  He was a member of the Council of the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia and of the council of Wanslea Incorporated, which provided community services and emergency services for children. Donald William Brummitt died on 15th June 1978. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and their two children, Belinda Mary and Paul William.

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