Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of James and Margaret Louisa Fairley, of 177, Moore St., Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia. Cerebral Surgeon.

Capt., R.A.M.C., eldest son of James Fairley, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia, Retired Bank Manager; b. Wodonga Victoria 27 August 1887 and educated at Ballarat Colleg, Victoria, and Melbourne University, where he obtained honours throughout his course, and graduated in 1909, gaining First Class Honours in both Medicine and Surgery, and fourth place in the final Honour List.  He was Resident Surgeon at the Melbourne Hospital in 1910-11, occupying a similar position at the Chrildren's Hospital the following eyar; obrained his M.D. decree im May 1911 and went to England in 1912 and passed the final examination for the English Fellowship in 1913, when he was appointed House Surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital for Stone, which position he held until the outbreak of the war.  He volunteered for Imperial Service and was gazetted Lieutenant R.A.M.C. 16 August 1914 and promoted to Captain in 1915.  He served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from August 1914 and was appointed to No 11 General Hospital Boulogne, but transferred to the Royal Artillery during the Battle of Aisne.  After serving a year with the 31st Heavy Battery, R.A., his former Colonel asked that he might be transferred to the hospital, where he was placed in charge of the wards allotted to head cases, and there did much valuable work, making many useful observations and treatment of head injuries.  He was invalided home in August 1915 suffering from Para-typhoid fever, but rejoined his Unit in October.  He died suddenly 9th November 1915 from a cerebral haemorrage, a result of a rare complication of Para-typhoid fever contracted while on active service.  James is buried at Boulogne.

Born in Victoria in 1888 and had a brilliant career both at school and at Melbourne University, where he took honours throughout the course of his medical education. He then held house appointments at the General and Children's Hospitals, Melbourne. Proceeding to England he took his Fellowship while acting as Senior House Surgeon at St Peter's Hospital for Stone.

He enlisted the day war was declared and joined the RAMC as Temporary Lieutenant on Aug 16th, 1914, and in France was for some months on duty with the 31st Heavy Battery. Later he was transferred to the Base Hospital as operating surgeon for cerebral cases, and was making observations on this subject when he developed paratyphoid fever, and so far recovered as to be invalided to England, whence he returned to his post in France as soon as possible and was hard at work when he died suddenly on Nov 9th, 1915, the cause of death - cerebral vascular trouble - being possibly a sequela of the paratyphoid. He had been promoted Captain in the previous August.

Fairley is described as an excellent athlete and an enthusiast in art and music, and, above all, thorough and scientific in his surgical work, which he loved. His portrait accompanies his biography in the Lancet and also appears in the St Bartholomew's Hospital Journal, and his name figures in the Roll of Honour of the Royal College of Surgeons (Calendar, 1919).

https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E001671b.htm