Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Piero Francisco Bruno Fiaschi was born on the 5th March 1879 at Windsor NSW the second child and son of Thomas and Catherine (known as Kate) Fiaschi.  Thomas was born in Florence, Italy, and Kate in Drum Keeren, Ireland.  There were 8 children in all but 3 died in infancy leaving Piero with 2 brothers and 2 sisters.  His older brother Ludovico was born mentally disabled and died in 1944 in a mental institution.  His younger brother Carlo, who served in the Boer War and later became a doctor, died in 1910 and then his mother died in 1913 aged 63.  Twelve months later his father married Amy Curtis in Bundaberg and they went on to have 4 children, however, 2 died in infancy leaving Piero with 2 half-sisters.  His father was an esteemed and renowned surgeon who served in the Boer War and WW1 being awarded the DSO and Mentioned in Despatches.  He also served with the Italian Army as a surgeon in the Abyssinian War in 1896 and was decorated for his service. 

Part of Piero’s schooling was spent at the Church of England Grammar School in Sydney from 1895-96, along with his brother Carlo. 

After his formal education in Australia, Piero went to the USA to study.  In 1903 he graduated from the New York College of Dentistry and in 1905 attained his MD from Columbia University in New York.  While in America he was privileged to work with renowned and pioneering doctors...Harvey Cushing and William Osler.  In 1906 he qualified as Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) and Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in London (LRCP).  His brother Carlo also qualified as a surgeon the same year but he did his studies in Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Piero returned to Sydney where he set up a practice at 178 Phillip Street in 1907, predominantly in genitourinary medicine and venereal disease.

Piero joined the Australian Army Medical Corps in 1909 and in 1912 was promoted to Captain.  In 1914 just prior to the outbreak of war Piero pioneered the Meltzer mechanical method of anaesthesia in Australia having witnessed this demonstrated by Dr Meltzer while he was studying in New York. 

He enlisted on the 20th August 1914 aged 35 and was designated to the 1st Australian Light Horse Field Ambulance.  The Unit embarked from Sydney on the 23rd September 1914 on HMAT Southern and upon arrival in Egypt, proceeded to Maadi Camp. 

On the 9th May 1915 the Unit arrived at Gallipoli where it was initially employed in staffing the hospital ships, evacuating and treating casualties, and was later assigned to treat casualties from the push at Lone Pine in early August.  In September he was attached to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment as the Regimental Medical Officer.  In mid-November he was admitted to hospital then evacuated on the hospital ship Somali to the 17th General Hospital at Alexandria suffering from septicaemic poisoning.  A few days later he was transferred to the 2nd Australian General Hospital at Gezirah Palace in Cairo.  After being discharged a week later he made the return trip to Gallipoli aboard the HMHS Assaye and re-joined his Unit on the 9th December.  The Australian Army evacuated the peninsula just 11 days later.  Piero embarked on the HMT Ionian, disembarking at Alexandria on the 26th December. 

New Year’s Day1916  brought an extra celebration with Piero being promoted to Major.  On the 20th January 1916, he was attached to the 3rd Field Ambulance at Tel-el-Kebir Camp.  It was here that he served with my grandfather, Cyril Morsley, for almost 6 weeks before being transferred to the 13th Field Ambulance.  The Unit embarked from Alexandria on the 6th June, disembarking at Marseilles, France, a week later.  He was detached for temporary duty to the 2nd Field Ambulance and then to the British 3rd Casualty Clearing Station at Grevillers.  He re-joined the 13th Field Ambulance in mid-August.  In late October he was again detached for duty, this time to the 36th Casualty Clearing Station at Heilly.  He re-joined his Unit briefly in late November before being returned to the 36th CCS in early December.

Piero aged 38, married Grace Horwood Thompson, 10 years his junior, on the 31st January 1917 at the All Souls Parish Church, Marylebone, in England.  Grace was an Australian nursing Sister serving with the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield England at the time.  She did her nursing training at the Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney, enlisted on the 10th October 1914 and embarked on the 28th November 1914 serving with 2nd Australian General Hospital.  She served at Lemnos Island during the Gallipoli campaign then served aboard a hospital ship to Australia before re-embarking to serve in England.  She resigned her appointment to get married. 

Piero returned to serve with the 36th CCS in France till late February 1917 after which he was detached for duty again to the 3rd CCS at Grevillers.  On the 21st March 1917 Piero was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and posted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital at Buford Camp in England.  He remained here for almost 12 months before returning to France in early March 1918 to serve at the 3rd Australian General Hospital at Abbeville where he once again worked with Dr Harvey Cushing.  During the Battle of Pozieres Piero pioneered the treatment of shocked casualties using intravenous saline infusions.  He wrote a medical journal on this subject. 

In late March 1918 he was detached for temporary duty to the 20th General Hospital at Etaples, then to the 39th Stationary Hospital at Aire near St Omer.  Nine days later he moved again to serve with the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Blendeques and then to serve with the British 55th CCS at Edgehill.  His last move was to serve with the 41st Stationary Hospital at Pont Remy.  In mid-October he took leave before returning to Australia.  He left Southampton in early November on HMT Olympic...the sister ship of RMS Titanic and proceeded to San Francisco USA.  In early December, at his own expense, he departed from San Francisco bound for Australia on SS Ventura and arrived in Sydney on Christmas Eve.  He was discharged in February 1919 and later that year he was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services during the war. 

After the war Piero set up a practice at 178 Phillip Street Sydney specialising in genitourinary medicine and venereal disease.  In June 1920 the Prince of Wales, the future King, visited Sackville and upon his arrival, was formally welcomed by Piero and his father Thomas.  In 1923 Piero and Kate welcomed a daughter, Katherine Agnes.  She was to be their only child.

Piero was intensely fond and proud of his father and felt the loss deeply when he died from pneumonia at Piero’s home in April 1927.  In January 1940 Piero unveiled a memorial to his father in the Waverley Cemetery, engraved on the same monument with his mother Kate’s memorial and beside his brother Carlo’s memorial. 

Piero was placed on the retired list from March 1921 and retired as an Honorary Colonel in April 1935.  During that time he held a number of medical appointments in the militia.  He commanded the 9th Field Ambulance from 1927-28, the 4th Cavalry Field Ambulance from 1928-30 and from 1930-32 was acting director of medical services of the 1st Cavalry Division of 2nd Military District.  

From 1936-46 Piero was clinical assistant at Sydney Hospital.  During and after WW2, from 1939-48, he was honorary medical officer to the South African War Veterans' Association of NSW and from 1941-42 he was a member of the Medical Commission as an inspector of the prisoner of war camps in Australia.  Piero was a familiar figure in Sydney's Anzac Day march. 

In early June 1948  Piero was severely burned when a kerosene stove he was lighting exploded.  He survived for 2 weeks before succumbing to his injuries on the 15th June 1948 at Sydney Hospital.  He was aged 69.  It was said that he was a casualty of the gas shortage being experienced at the time.  His funeral was held at St James Church Sydney 2 days later.  He was buried in the Waverley Cemetery with his parents and siblings.  He was survived by his wife Grace, daughter Katherine and grand-daughter Judy.  Katherine went on to have 2 more daughters, Lesley and Sheila and 2 sons, Malcolm and Adam.  Grace passed away on the 18th October 1959 at the Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, NSW, aged 71.  Sadly, the Thomas Fiaschi lineage ended with the death of Piero as there were no grandsons to carry on the name. 

Dr Frederick Maguire, Piero’s Commanding Officer at the 3rd AGH at Abbeville during the war, gave the funeral address and shared this about Piero:

“In the Gallipoli campaign, Piero Fiaschi did more by his efforts than any other man to maintain the Australian troops on the Peninsula…Give him three men’s work and a free hand, and one could put Piero and the work out of one’s mind”.

On the 9th April 1921 Piero and his father were honoured guests at the unveiling ceremony of the Richmond War Memorial commemorating all those from the district who served in WW1.  However, the irony was that both of their names were omitted from the memorial.  This article appeared in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette newspaper on Christmas Day 1925:

“Indignation has been expressed at the omission from Windsor's War Memorial of the names of Colonel (Dr) Thomas Fiaschi, D.S.O. and his son Dr. Pierro Fiaschi.  One of the best known surgeons of the State, Dr. Fiaschi is a native of Florence and was educated at the Liceo -Dante, Florence, and Pisa Universities.  He arrived in Australia in 1875 and after practising in Windsor, settled in 1883 at Sydney.  He is probably one of the most notable Army Medical surgeons in the Commonwealth.  In the South African war he was in command of the No. 1 N.S.W. Field Hospital and senior officer to General Hutton's Brigade.  Lord Roberts mentioned him in special despatches.  In the Great War he was in charge of the NO. 3 General Hospital and he also did very excellent work with the Italian army.  Viticulture is the doctor's recreation, and his vineyards at Sackville are renowned for their excellent wines.  To have the name of such a distinguished personage as Dr. Fiaschi on Windsor's Memorial should be an honour to the town and district - yet it was omitted!  His son, too, Dr. Piero Fiaschi also feels the slight.  The latter says that his name is on seven Honour Rolls in New York, but it is omitted from the one in the district where he was born.”

It seems unbelievable that Piero and his father were not honoured in the way they should have been for their enormous contributions to the war, to the field of medicine and to the community in the Sydney area over many decades.  However, Piero’s sister Clarissa made sure they would always be remembered.  In 1968, in memory of Piero and his father Thomas, she donated a bronze life sized replica of the Il Porcellino statue which has stood in the straw market of Florence since 1547.  This statue sits prominently outside the Sydney Hospital on Macquarie Street where father and son worked honorary surgeons.  An inscription on the statue claims that anyone who rubs its nose and drops a coin into the pool at the boar's feet will have good luck. In Sydney, as in Florence, donations go to assist the work of the hospital.  Il Porcellino is recognised as a symbol of friendship between Italy and Australia.             

Piero has behind his name the post-nominal letters OBE, VD, MD.  OBE is for Officer of the Order of the British Empire, MD is for doctor of medicine and VD stands for Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers’ Decoration.  This was awarded for long and meritorious service as a part-time commissioned officer in any of the Colonial Auxiliary Forces.

Piero Francisco Bruno Fiaschi was awarded for service in WW1 the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, the Order of the British Empire and was Mentioned in Despatches.  His daughter received the Anzac Commemorative Medallion on his behalf in 1967 which was awarded to surviving members of the Australian forces who served on the Gallipoli Peninsula, or in direct support of the operations from close off shore, at any time during the period from the first Anzac Day in April 1915 to the date of final evacuation in January 1916. 

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 22nd November 2021

Sources

file:///C:/Users/gsue0/Downloads/Cooper%20Morris%20Gallipoli%202014%20(1).PDF

https://www.shirehistory.org/uploads/1/0/9/1/109164607/131_1999_may.pdf

file:///C:/Users/gsue0/Downloads/Cooper%20Morris%20Gallipoli%202014%20(1).PDF

https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/il_porcellino#ref-uuid=3e6af247-d627-5fe0-c5d6-35dda4db95a1