Rupert Downes
Encyclopedia
Major General
Rupert Major Downes CMG, KStJ
, VD
, FRACS (10 February 1885 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian soldier, general, surgeon and historian in the first half of the 20th century. Downes attended the University of Melbourne
, graduating with his medical degrees in 1907. He returned to the university to pursue a Doctor of Medicine
degree, which was awarded in 1911.
The son of an Army officer, Downes joined the Army as a trumpeter while he was still at school. He was commissioned as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps
in 1908, and joined the First Australian Imperial Force
(AIF) in 1914 as its youngest lieutenant colonel
. He served in the Gallipoli campaign
, and was appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services (ADMS) of the newly formed Anzac Mounted Division
in 1916, which he combined with the post of ADMS AIF Egypt. In 1917, he became Deputy Director of Medical Services (DDMS) of the Desert Mounted Corps
. After the war, he wrote articles on medical aspects of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
, and the section on the campaign for the official history.
Returning to Australia, Downes became an honorary consulting surgeon at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and honorary surgeon at Prince Henry's Hospital
. He became a foundation fellow of the College of Surgeons of Australasia
in 1927, and president of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association
in 1935. He lectured on medical ethics
at the University of Melbourne, writing the course text book. He was also Victorian State Commissioner of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, which he led for 25 years, and was president of the St John Ambulance Association for eight years.
In 1934 Downes became Director General of Medical Services, the Australian Army's most senior medical officer, with the rank of major general. He oversaw the construction of major military hospitals in the capital cities. In 1944 he accepted a commission to edit the medical series volumes of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1939–1945 but was never able to do so as he was killed in a plane crash in 1945.
. He was the youngest of fifteen children of Colonel Major Francis Downes—a British Army
officer—and his wife Helen Maria, formerly Chamberlin, only five of whom survived to adulthood. After service in the Crimean War
, Colonel Francis Downes served as commandant of the Colonial forces
of South Australia and Victoria
and retired with the rank of major general in the Australian Army
in 1902.
Rupert was educated at Haileybury, Melbourne
as a boarding student. In March 1901, at the age of 16, he joined the Victorian Horse Artillery (St Kilda Battery), a part-time volunteer militia unit, as a trumpeter. In May 1901 he served in this capacity at the opening of the inaugural Parliament of Australia
by The Duke of Cornwall and York
at the Royal Exhibition Building
. In 1903, Downes became a medical student at the University of Melbourne
. A good result in his first year examinations earned him a residential scholarship to Ormond College
, and he graduated with the double degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1907.
Soon after graduation, Downes enlisted in the Militia
. He was commissioned as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps
on 1 July 1908 and was promoted to major on 26 March 1913. He served his residency
at Melbourne Hospital
and became a general practitioner
in Malvern, Victoria
, but soon returned to the university to pursue a doctorate. His Doctor of Medicine
(MD) thesis, entitled "The anatomical relations of the Thymus, especially considered in regard to thymic death with an account of cases of abnormality", was accepted in 1911. He also did the coursework for a Master of Surgery
(MS), and this degree was conferred in 1912.
Downes married Doris Mary Robb on 20 November 1913 at St John's Church, Toorak, Victoria
. They had three children: Rosemary Major, born in 1914; Valerie Major, born in March 1918; and John Rupert Major, born in 1922.
(AIF) on 2 October 1914, assuming command of the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance with the rank of lieutenant colonel
—making him the youngest officer of that rank in the AIF at the time. Soon after his taking command, the unit was renamed the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance. After training at the Broadmeadows
Army Camp near Melbourne, the unit embarked for Egypt
on the transport Chilka on 2 February 1915.
The 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance departed Alexandria
for Gallipoli
on 17 May 1915. It moved to Lemnos
in June, where it operated a hospital, but returned to ANZAC Cove
for the August offensive
. Downes missed this operation, as he remained on Lemnos supervising the hospital until he returned to Anzac on 11 August. He remained with his unit until 13 November, when he departed for Lemnos and then Egypt.
After the evacuation of Gallipoli, Downes was appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services (ADMS) of the newly formed Anzac Mounted Division
on 15 March 1916. He was given the temporary rank of colonel
, before substantive promotion on 20 February 1917. Downes combined this post with that of ADMS AIF Egypt from 6 September 1916. Downes therefore had to travel back and forth to Cairo. In November 1916, a Deputy ADMS was appointed to assist him.
Medically speaking, the health of the Anzac Mounted Division was remarkably good, but the Sinai Peninsula
still had its challenges—especially for medical officers unfamiliar with conditions in the Middle East. The Battle of Romani
revealed the importance of transportation in an area with few roads. A poorly-organised casualty evacuation effort caused a great deal of preventable hardship and suffering for the wounded, and resulted in a number of avoidable deaths. An inquiry into the matter was held after the battle, at which Downes was called to testify. The Commander in Chief if the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
(EEF), General Sir Archibald Murray
, declined to assign blame to any individual, but implemented the inquiry's recommendations for improving the casualty evacuation process.
There was also the heat, and the problem of supplying adequate quantities of potable water. Diseases included cholera
, typhus
and bilharzia. To combat these, Downes obtained the services of the Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Martin
, and created the Anzac Field Laboratory to investigate these diseases. As a result of aggressively tackling the problem, Downes reduced rates of disease among Australian and New Zealand troops well below those of British troops serving along side them. Martin advanced the notion that heat exhaustion and heat stroke were not the result of defective evaporation, as had previously been believed, but simply a matter of failing to drink enough water. He in turn converted Downes to the belief that "provided water is available in adequate amount the heat mechanism of the body can defy all ordinary climatic ranges of temperature even under conditions of hard work." With so many people and horses, sanitation was a challenge, and discipline in this area was initially slack, as it had been with disastrous results at Gallipoli. Downes took measures to improve the situation. Although not normally one to engage in disputes, Downes repeatedly clashed with the British medical officers of the EEF, especially the DMS EEF, Colonel Alfred Keble, whose attitudes Downes regarded as endangering his troops.
Doris travelled to Egypt to visit her husband in March 1917. By June, Rupert was becoming increasingly immersed in preparations for the Third Battle of Gaza
and Doris, who had become pregnant during her visit, decided to return home. On her return journey to Australia in June 1917, her ship, the P&O
liner Mongolia struck a mine
and was sunk in the Indian Ocean with the loss of 23 lives. Doris spent 11 hours in a crowded lifeboat, before being rescued by a passing steamer, which took her to Bombay. From there she eventually made her way back to Australia via Singapore and Batavia. In 1918 Doris was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her volunteer work among soldiers' families as secretary of the Friendly Union of Soldiers' Wives and Mothers.
On 10 August 1917, Downes became Deputy Director of Medical Services (DDMS) of the Desert Mounted Corps
, while still retaining the post of ADMS AIF Egypt. He was therefore answerable to three superiors—to Lieutenant General
Harry Chauvel, the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps and AIF Egypt; to Major General Neville Howse
, the DMS AIF in London; and to the new British DMS EEF, Major General William Travers Swan. As the EEF advanced into Palestine, the major medical problem remained transportation. During the operations in the Es Salt area, Downes experimented with the delivery of drugs and medical supplies by air. In the Jordan valley in 1918, however, Downes was confronted with an epidemic of malaria
and vigorous preventative and prophylactic efforts were required in order to bring it under control.
In October 1918, with victory near, Downes was confronted by his most serious medical crisis. Damascus
contained over 3,000 sick and wounded Turkish soldiers, many of them in appalling condition. Downes appointed the DADMS of the Australian Mounted Division, Major W. Evans, as Principal Medical Officer of Damascus, and gave him orders to organise the medical arrangements, bury the dead and provide care for the living. The task was made more difficult by the poor communications and transport shortages, which hampered the delivery of supplies and evacuation of the hospitals; by shortages of medical units; and by the actions of Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence
, who was more concerned with establishing the political authority of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
over Damascus. At this point the Desert Mounted Corps itself began to experience epidemic diseases, particularly of bronchopneumonia
, cholera
and malaria
, putting the medical services under enormous pressure. Through extraordinary measures, including the diversion of lighthorsemen and motor vehicles to medical units, Downes managed to evacuate the sick to Beirut
, and the crisis abated.
For his service in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
, Downes was mentioned in despatches four times, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George on 1 January 1918. His citation read:
and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and honorary surgeon at Prince Henry's Hospital
. He was a founding fellow of the College of Surgeons of Australasia
in 1927, and became president of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association
in 1935. He established a reputation as one of Melbourne's leading paediatric surgeons
, but found himself in disagreement with certain medical practices then in vogue. In a 1922 paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, he examined 100 cases of tonsillectomy
in children, and concluded that the majority of them were unnecessary. It would be another four decades before the medical profession in Australia accepted this. He lectured on medical ethics
at the University of Melbourne from the late 1930s until his death in 1945, and wrote a course text book on the subject, entitled Medical Ethics, which was published in 1942.
In addition to his medical writings, Downes wrote a book-length section on the Sinai and Palestine campaign for Volume I of the Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services in the War of 1914–1918 in the late 1920s under the direction of Medical Series editor Graham Butler. The two men had discussed the prospect during a visit Butler made to Egypt in 1918 to inspect the medical records of the AIF, and again in France in 1919. Downes published an article in the Journal of the British Army Medical Corps entitled "The Tactical Employment of the Medical Services in a Cavalry Corps" in 1926, which was expanded into one of the chapters of the Official History. Downes' manuscript proved too long for the proposed book, and was extensively edited by Butler before it was published in 1930. Downes was instrumental in supporting Butler's Medical Series and helped obtain the funding necessary to complete the project.
Downes was chairman of the Masseurs' Registration Board, a councillor of the Victorian division of the Australian Red Cross
, and chairman of the Red Cross National Council. He was Victorian State Commissioner of the St. John Ambulance
Brigade for 25 years. He was also president of the St John Ambulance Association for eight years, and chairman of the Victorian Civil Ambulance Service from 1937 to 1938. In 1930, he was appointed a Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John
, and later became a Knight of Grace of the order in 1937. At the same time, Doris became an Officer of the Order of Saint John, in recognition for her fund raising efforts for the Victorian branch. She also later served on the as a member of its council from 1942 to 1953. Downes was instrumental in persuading the various state branches to come together as a national organisation, arguing that without a national body, the organisation would be eclipsed by the Red Cross.
In 1930, Downes' son John, then in his first year as a boarder at Geelong Grammar School
, fell seriously ill with meningitis
. Despite the best efforts of two eminent medical practitioners, Dr Keith Fairley and Dr Reginald Webster, John succumbed to toxaemia
and died in 1933, at the age of 10. The failure of modern medicine to save his son affected Downes deeply, and led him to abandon his medical career in favour of a military one.
Downes remained in the Army throughout the inter-war period. He became a colonel in the Australian Army Medical Corps
on 8 January 1920. He was DDMS of the 3rd Military District (Victoria) from 1 July 1921 to 26 June 1933, and Officer in Charge of Voluntary Aid Detachment
s from 1 July 1921 to 15 March 1940. He also served as head of the medical services of the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF). Although the RAAF had become a separate service in 1921, the Minister for Defence
decided in 1927 that the Army's Director General of Medical Services should be responsible for the administration of the RAAF's medical services. In this capacity, Downes was answerable to the Air Board. In addition, he was honorary surgeon to the Governor General of Australia from 1 July 1927 to 30 June 1931.
On 20 August 1934 Downes became Director General of Medical Services (DGMS), a full-time post and the Army's most senior medical officer. His priority was a recruiting campaign to increase the number of medical professionals in the Army. The Munich Crisis
caused people to believe that another war was imminent, and an Army-wide recruiting campaign led by Major General Sir Thomas Blamey
doubled the size of the Army from 35,000 in 1938 to 70,000 in 1939. Downes' efforts at recruiting were far more modest. In 1934, there were 299 part time officers in the AAMC; by 1939 there were 394, and increase of only 32 per cent. This included 320 medical practitioners, 37 dentists and 13 pharmacists. Downes was acutely aware that a large Army would require mobilisation of the country's doctors, and pushed for all doctors to be prepared for either military service or direction by civil authorities. He presided over a major effort to stockpile drugs and medical equipment required for a mobilisation. With the help of the Department of Health and the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, most of this was delivered by July 1939.
In 1939, Downes began a tour of military and other medical centres in India
, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Canada. While in London, he arranged for Doris and Valerie to be formally presented to the King
and Queen
at Buckingham Palace
by Ethel Bruce, the wife of Stanley Bruce
, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Downes foresaw a major war, fought in the islands to the north of Australia. While in London, he took steps to obtain the services as consultants of two eminent Australian physicians, the surgeon Sir Thomas Dunhill and Neil Hamilton Fairley
, an expert on tropical diseases. The outbreak of the Second World War caused Downes to curtail the North American leg of his tour, and return to Australia in October 1939.
Downes, in his role as DGMS, pressed for the construction of major military hospitals in the capital cities. He argued that, after the war, they should be handed over to the Repatriation Commission for the care of sick and disabled ex-service personnel. Despite strong opposition on the grounds of cost, Downes won his case in October 1940. Time soon vindicated his judgement; and today the major military hospitals in the state capital cities, the Concord Repatriation General Hospital
in Sydney, the Austin Hospital
in Melbourne and Greenslopes Private Hospital
in Brisbane
remain his greatest legacy.
In late 1940, medical units in the Middle East were experienced "precarious and at times acute" shortages of medicals stores. Units were sent to the Middle East as fully equipped as was possible, with the expectation that the British Army would make up the difference, but British policy was that all possible sources had to be exploited before any demands could be made on the United Kingdom's sources. General
Sir Thomas Blamey
, the Commander in Chief of the AIF, recognised this as something that had to be negotiated between the two governments, but medical officers in the Middle East blamed the Medical Services in Australia—and therefore Downes—for the situation. The Minister of the Army, Percy Spender
decided to pay a visit to the Middle East to see the situation for himself but before he did so, he resolved that Downes should become Director of Medical Services, AIF (Middle East). On arrival in the Middle East with the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee
, Spender found that Blamey had already appointed Major General Samuel Burston
to that post. This came as a surprise to them as they had not realised that Blamey had the authority to make such an appointment; but on seeing the situation for himself, Spender confirmed Burston's appointment.
On returning to Australia, Spender appointed Major General F. A. Maguire as DGMS and Downes was appointed to the newly created post of Inspector General of Medical Services (IGMS). As IGMS, Downes toured extensively—he visited all the Australian states and overseas locations where Australian troops had been sent, including Papua and New Guinea, Malaya, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), India and East Africa. When Blamey reorganised the Army on his return to Australia in 1942, he appointed Burston as Director General of Medical Services. Downes became DMS of the Second Army
on 6 April 1942. He joined the Second AIF
as a major general on 27 June 1942, receiving the AIF serial number VX57673.
-resistant strain of malaria
in the Aitape-Wewak campaign
. On 5 March 1945, the RAAF Lockheed Hudson
aircraft they were travelling in crashed into the sea about 400 yards (365.8 m) from Machans Beach, just north of the mouth of the Barron River
near Cairns. Downes and Vasey were killed along with all nine other Australian service personnel on board. Their bodies were recovered and buried in Cairns War Cemetery with full military honours. Downes was survived by Doris, Valerie and Rosemary. A memorial service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
on 9 March 1945. He became the third most senior Australian officer to die in the Second World War, after General Sir Brudenell White
, who died in the Canberra air disaster
in 1940, and Lieutenant General
Henry Wynter
, who died on 7 February 1945.
Downes' papers are in the Australian War Memorial
. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
established the triennial Rupert Downes Memorial Lecture in his honour. The subject of the Lecture is "related to some aspect or aspects of military surgery, medical equipment (military and civil), the surgery of children, neurosurgery, general surgery, medical ethics or medical history; these being subjects in which Downes was particularly interested".
Source:
Major General (Australia)
Major General is a senior rank of the Australian Army, and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of Major General. It is the third-highest active rank of the Australian Army, and is considered to be equivalent to a two-star rank...
Rupert Major Downes CMG, KStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, VD
Volunteer Decoration
The Volunteer Officers' Decoration was created by Royal Warrant under command of Queen Victoria on 25 July 1892 to reward 'efficient and capable' officers of the Volunteer Force who had served for twenty years...
, FRACS (10 February 1885 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian soldier, general, surgeon and historian in the first half of the 20th century. Downes attended the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, graduating with his medical degrees in 1907. He returned to the university to pursue a Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
degree, which was awarded in 1911.
The son of an Army officer, Downes joined the Army as a trumpeter while he was still at school. He was commissioned as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps
Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 and has participated in every Australian Army operation...
in 1908, and joined the First Australian Imperial Force
First Australian Imperial Force
The First Australian Imperial Force was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during World War I. It was formed from 15 August 1914, following Britain's declaration of war on Germany. Generally known at the time as the AIF, it is today referred to as the 1st AIF to distinguish from...
(AIF) in 1914 as its youngest lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. He served in the Gallipoli campaign
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
, and was appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services (ADMS) of the newly formed Anzac Mounted Division
Anzac Mounted Division
The ANZAC Mounted Division was a mounted infantry and mounted rifles division formed in March 1916 in Egypt during World War I following the Battle of Gallipoli when the Australian and New Zealand regiments returned from fighting dismounted as infantry...
in 1916, which he combined with the post of ADMS AIF Egypt. In 1917, he became Deputy Director of Medical Services (DDMS) of the Desert Mounted Corps
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I Allied army corps that operated in the Middle East during 1917 and 1918.Originally formed on 15 March 1916 as the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division under the command of Major General Harry Chauvel The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I...
. After the war, he wrote articles on medical aspects of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...
, and the section on the campaign for the official history.
Returning to Australia, Downes became an honorary consulting surgeon at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...
and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and honorary surgeon at Prince Henry's Hospital
Monash Medical Centre
Monash Medical Centres is a multicampus teaching hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Clayton campus is located in Clayton, whilst the Moorabbin Campus is at Bentleigh East...
. He became a foundation fellow of the College of Surgeons of Australasia
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons is the body responsible for training and examining surgeons in Australia and New Zealand. The head office of the College is in Melbourne, Australia....
in 1927, and president of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
in 1935. He lectured on medical ethics
Medical ethics
Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...
at the University of Melbourne, writing the course text book. He was also Victorian State Commissioner of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, which he led for 25 years, and was president of the St John Ambulance Association for eight years.
In 1934 Downes became Director General of Medical Services, the Australian Army's most senior medical officer, with the rank of major general. He oversaw the construction of major military hospitals in the capital cities. In 1944 he accepted a commission to edit the medical series volumes of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1939–1945 but was never able to do so as he was killed in a plane crash in 1945.
Education and early life
Rupert Major Downes was born on 10 February 1885 in Mitcham, South AustraliaMitcham, South Australia
Mitcham is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham.Created as a village separate from Adelaide , it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek belonging to the South Australia Company. Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Kaurna aboriginal people...
. He was the youngest of fifteen children of Colonel Major Francis Downes—a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer—and his wife Helen Maria, formerly Chamberlin, only five of whom survived to adulthood. After service in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, Colonel Francis Downes served as commandant of the Colonial forces
Colonial forces of Australia
Until Australia became a Federation in 1901, each of the six colonial governments was responsible for the defence of their own colony. From 1788 until 1870 this was done with British regular forces. In all, 25 British regiments served in the Australian colonies...
of South Australia and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and retired with the rank of major general in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
in 1902.
Haileybury, Melbourne
Haileybury is an independent school affiliated with the Uniting Church in Australia, located in Berwick, Brighton East and Keysborough, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school incorporates both Haileybury College, an all-boys college and Haileybury Girls' College, an all-girls college...
as a boarding student. In March 1901, at the age of 16, he joined the Victorian Horse Artillery (St Kilda Battery), a part-time volunteer militia unit, as a trumpeter. In May 1901 he served in this capacity at the opening of the inaugural Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
by The Duke of Cornwall and York
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
at the Royal Exhibition Building
Royal Exhibition Building
The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district...
. In 1903, Downes became a medical student at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. A good result in his first year examinations earned him a residential scholarship to Ormond College
Ormond College (University of Melbourne)
Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne. It is home to 332 undergraduates, 30 postgraduates and 27 professorial/academic residents.-Establishment:...
, and he graduated with the double degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1907.
Soon after graduation, Downes enlisted in the Militia
Australian Army Reserve
The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen Military Forces, the Militia and, unofficially, the...
. He was commissioned as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps
Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 and has participated in every Australian Army operation...
on 1 July 1908 and was promoted to major on 26 March 1913. He served his residency
Residency (medicine)
Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...
at Melbourne Hospital
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
and became a general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
in Malvern, Victoria
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
, but soon returned to the university to pursue a doctorate. His Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(MD) thesis, entitled "The anatomical relations of the Thymus, especially considered in regard to thymic death with an account of cases of abnormality", was accepted in 1911. He also did the coursework for a Master of Surgery
Master of Surgery
The Master of Surgery is an advanced qualification in surgery. It is most commonly abbreviated Ch.M. or M.S., as well as M.Ch. and M.Chir. from its Latin name, Magister Chirurgiae or the English form of Master of Surgery....
(MS), and this degree was conferred in 1912.
Downes married Doris Mary Robb on 20 November 1913 at St John's Church, Toorak, Victoria
Toorak, Victoria
Toorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...
. They had three children: Rosemary Major, born in 1914; Valerie Major, born in March 1918; and John Rupert Major, born in 1922.
First World War
Downes joined the First Australian Imperial ForceFirst Australian Imperial Force
The First Australian Imperial Force was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during World War I. It was formed from 15 August 1914, following Britain's declaration of war on Germany. Generally known at the time as the AIF, it is today referred to as the 1st AIF to distinguish from...
(AIF) on 2 October 1914, assuming command of the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance with the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
—making him the youngest officer of that rank in the AIF at the time. Soon after his taking command, the unit was renamed the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance. After training at the Broadmeadows
Broadmeadows, Victoria
Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume...
Army Camp near Melbourne, the unit embarked for Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
on the transport Chilka on 2 February 1915.
The 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance departed Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
for Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
on 17 May 1915. It moved to Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...
in June, where it operated a hospital, but returned to ANZAC Cove
Anzac Cove
Anzac Cove is a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It became famous as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC on April 25, 1915. The cove is a mere long, bounded by the headlands of Ari Burnu to the north and Little Ari Burnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south...
for the August offensive
Battle of Sari Bair
The Battle of Sari Bair , also known as the August Offensive, was the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during First World War.The Battle of Gallipoli had raged on two fronts, Anzac and Helles, for three months since...
. Downes missed this operation, as he remained on Lemnos supervising the hospital until he returned to Anzac on 11 August. He remained with his unit until 13 November, when he departed for Lemnos and then Egypt.
Anzac Mounted Division
The ANZAC Mounted Division was a mounted infantry and mounted rifles division formed in March 1916 in Egypt during World War I following the Battle of Gallipoli when the Australian and New Zealand regiments returned from fighting dismounted as infantry...
on 15 March 1916. He was given the temporary rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, before substantive promotion on 20 February 1917. Downes combined this post with that of ADMS AIF Egypt from 6 September 1916. Downes therefore had to travel back and forth to Cairo. In November 1916, a Deputy ADMS was appointed to assist him.
Medically speaking, the health of the Anzac Mounted Division was remarkably good, but the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
still had its challenges—especially for medical officers unfamiliar with conditions in the Middle East. The Battle of Romani
Battle of Romani
The Battle of Romani was fought east of the Suez Canal, near the Egyptian town of Romani and the site of ancient Pelusium on the Sinai Peninsula during the First World War...
revealed the importance of transportation in an area with few roads. A poorly-organised casualty evacuation effort caused a great deal of preventable hardship and suffering for the wounded, and resulted in a number of avoidable deaths. An inquiry into the matter was held after the battle, at which Downes was called to testify. The Commander in Chief if the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
(EEF), General Sir Archibald Murray
Archibald Murray
General Sir Archibald James Murray, GCMG, KCB, CVO, DSO was a British Army officer during World War I, most famous for his commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force from 1916 to 1917.-Army career:...
, declined to assign blame to any individual, but implemented the inquiry's recommendations for improving the casualty evacuation process.
There was also the heat, and the problem of supplying adequate quantities of potable water. Diseases included cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
, typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
and bilharzia. To combat these, Downes obtained the services of the Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Martin
Charles James Martin
Charles James Martin, FRS, FRCS was a British scientist who did seminal work on protein denaturation, nutrition, snake toxins and other medical topics...
, and created the Anzac Field Laboratory to investigate these diseases. As a result of aggressively tackling the problem, Downes reduced rates of disease among Australian and New Zealand troops well below those of British troops serving along side them. Martin advanced the notion that heat exhaustion and heat stroke were not the result of defective evaporation, as had previously been believed, but simply a matter of failing to drink enough water. He in turn converted Downes to the belief that "provided water is available in adequate amount the heat mechanism of the body can defy all ordinary climatic ranges of temperature even under conditions of hard work." With so many people and horses, sanitation was a challenge, and discipline in this area was initially slack, as it had been with disastrous results at Gallipoli. Downes took measures to improve the situation. Although not normally one to engage in disputes, Downes repeatedly clashed with the British medical officers of the EEF, especially the DMS EEF, Colonel Alfred Keble, whose attitudes Downes regarded as endangering his troops.
Doris travelled to Egypt to visit her husband in March 1917. By June, Rupert was becoming increasingly immersed in preparations for the Third Battle of Gaza
Third Battle of Gaza
The Third Battle of Gaza was fought in 1917 in southern Palestine during the First World War. The British Empire forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby successfully broke the Ottoman defensive Gaza-Beersheba line...
and Doris, who had become pregnant during her visit, decided to return home. On her return journey to Australia in June 1917, her ship, the P&O
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
liner Mongolia struck a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and was sunk in the Indian Ocean with the loss of 23 lives. Doris spent 11 hours in a crowded lifeboat, before being rescued by a passing steamer, which took her to Bombay. From there she eventually made her way back to Australia via Singapore and Batavia. In 1918 Doris was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her volunteer work among soldiers' families as secretary of the Friendly Union of Soldiers' Wives and Mothers.
On 10 August 1917, Downes became Deputy Director of Medical Services (DDMS) of the Desert Mounted Corps
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I Allied army corps that operated in the Middle East during 1917 and 1918.Originally formed on 15 March 1916 as the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division under the command of Major General Harry Chauvel The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I...
, while still retaining the post of ADMS AIF Egypt. He was therefore answerable to three superiors—to Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General (Australia)
Lieutenant general is the second-highest active rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of lieutenant general. It is also considered a three-star rank....
Harry Chauvel, the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps and AIF Egypt; to Major General Neville Howse
Neville Howse
Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse VC, KCB, KCMG, KStJ was a British-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces...
, the DMS AIF in London; and to the new British DMS EEF, Major General William Travers Swan. As the EEF advanced into Palestine, the major medical problem remained transportation. During the operations in the Es Salt area, Downes experimented with the delivery of drugs and medical supplies by air. In the Jordan valley in 1918, however, Downes was confronted with an epidemic of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and vigorous preventative and prophylactic efforts were required in order to bring it under control.
In October 1918, with victory near, Downes was confronted by his most serious medical crisis. Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
contained over 3,000 sick and wounded Turkish soldiers, many of them in appalling condition. Downes appointed the DADMS of the Australian Mounted Division, Major W. Evans, as Principal Medical Officer of Damascus, and gave him orders to organise the medical arrangements, bury the dead and provide care for the living. The task was made more difficult by the poor communications and transport shortages, which hampered the delivery of supplies and evacuation of the hospitals; by shortages of medical units; and by the actions of Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
, who was more concerned with establishing the political authority of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
Sayyid Hussein bin Ali, GCB was the Sharif of Mecca, and Emir of Mecca from 1908 until 1917, when he proclaimed himself King of Hejaz, which received international recognition. He initiated the Arab Revolt in 1916 against the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman Empire during the course of the...
over Damascus. At this point the Desert Mounted Corps itself began to experience epidemic diseases, particularly of bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia or bronchial pneumonia or "Bronchogenic pneumonia" is the acute inflammation of the walls of the bronchioles...
, cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, putting the medical services under enormous pressure. Through extraordinary measures, including the diversion of lighthorsemen and motor vehicles to medical units, Downes managed to evacuate the sick to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, and the crisis abated.
For his service in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...
, Downes was mentioned in despatches four times, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George on 1 January 1918. His citation read:
Interwar years
Returning to Australia, Downes was discharged from the AIF, but remained in the Army as a reservist. He became an honorary consulting surgeon at the Royal Children's Hospital, MelbourneRoyal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...
and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and honorary surgeon at Prince Henry's Hospital
Monash Medical Centre
Monash Medical Centres is a multicampus teaching hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Clayton campus is located in Clayton, whilst the Moorabbin Campus is at Bentleigh East...
. He was a founding fellow of the College of Surgeons of Australasia
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons is the body responsible for training and examining surgeons in Australia and New Zealand. The head office of the College is in Melbourne, Australia....
in 1927, and became president of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
in 1935. He established a reputation as one of Melbourne's leading paediatric surgeons
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
, but found himself in disagreement with certain medical practices then in vogue. In a 1922 paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, he examined 100 cases of tonsillectomy
Tonsillectomy
A tonsillectomy is a 3,000-year-old surgical procedure in which the tonsils are removed from either side of the throat. The procedure is performed in response to cases of repeated occurrence of acute tonsillitis or adenoiditis, obstructive sleep apnea, nasal airway obstruction, snoring, or...
in children, and concluded that the majority of them were unnecessary. It would be another four decades before the medical profession in Australia accepted this. He lectured on medical ethics
Medical ethics
Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...
at the University of Melbourne from the late 1930s until his death in 1945, and wrote a course text book on the subject, entitled Medical Ethics, which was published in 1942.
In addition to his medical writings, Downes wrote a book-length section on the Sinai and Palestine campaign for Volume I of the Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services in the War of 1914–1918 in the late 1920s under the direction of Medical Series editor Graham Butler. The two men had discussed the prospect during a visit Butler made to Egypt in 1918 to inspect the medical records of the AIF, and again in France in 1919. Downes published an article in the Journal of the British Army Medical Corps entitled "The Tactical Employment of the Medical Services in a Cavalry Corps" in 1926, which was expanded into one of the chapters of the Official History. Downes' manuscript proved too long for the proposed book, and was extensively edited by Butler before it was published in 1930. Downes was instrumental in supporting Butler's Medical Series and helped obtain the funding necessary to complete the project.
Downes was chairman of the Masseurs' Registration Board, a councillor of the Victorian division of the Australian Red Cross
Australian Red Cross
The Australian Red Cross is one of the many national Red Cross societies around the world. The Australian organisation was established in 1914, nine days after the commencement of World War I, by Karen Tenenbaum, when she formed a branch of the British Red Cross.the organisation grew at a rapid rate...
, and chairman of the Red Cross National Council. He was Victorian State Commissioner of the St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance
St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
Brigade for 25 years. He was also president of the St John Ambulance Association for eight years, and chairman of the Victorian Civil Ambulance Service from 1937 to 1938. In 1930, he was appointed a Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, and later became a Knight of Grace of the order in 1937. At the same time, Doris became an Officer of the Order of Saint John, in recognition for her fund raising efforts for the Victorian branch. She also later served on the as a member of its council from 1942 to 1953. Downes was instrumental in persuading the various state branches to come together as a national organisation, arguing that without a national body, the organisation would be eclipsed by the Red Cross.
In 1930, Downes' son John, then in his first year as a boarder at Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located at Corio, on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay....
, fell seriously ill with meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
. Despite the best efforts of two eminent medical practitioners, Dr Keith Fairley and Dr Reginald Webster, John succumbed to toxaemia
Bacteremia
Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood. The blood is normally a sterile environment, so the detection of bacteria in the blood is always abnormal....
and died in 1933, at the age of 10. The failure of modern medicine to save his son affected Downes deeply, and led him to abandon his medical career in favour of a military one.
Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 and has participated in every Australian Army operation...
on 8 January 1920. He was DDMS of the 3rd Military District (Victoria) from 1 July 1921 to 26 June 1933, and Officer in Charge of Voluntary Aid Detachment
Voluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The organisation's most important periods of operation were during World War I and World War II.The...
s from 1 July 1921 to 15 March 1940. He also served as head of the medical services of the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF). Although the RAAF had become a separate service in 1921, the Minister for Defence
Minister for Defence (Australia)
The Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...
decided in 1927 that the Army's Director General of Medical Services should be responsible for the administration of the RAAF's medical services. In this capacity, Downes was answerable to the Air Board. In addition, he was honorary surgeon to the Governor General of Australia from 1 July 1927 to 30 June 1931.
On 20 August 1934 Downes became Director General of Medical Services (DGMS), a full-time post and the Army's most senior medical officer. His priority was a recruiting campaign to increase the number of medical professionals in the Army. The Munich Crisis
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
caused people to believe that another war was imminent, and an Army-wide recruiting campaign led by Major General Sir Thomas Blamey
Thomas Blamey
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
doubled the size of the Army from 35,000 in 1938 to 70,000 in 1939. Downes' efforts at recruiting were far more modest. In 1934, there were 299 part time officers in the AAMC; by 1939 there were 394, and increase of only 32 per cent. This included 320 medical practitioners, 37 dentists and 13 pharmacists. Downes was acutely aware that a large Army would require mobilisation of the country's doctors, and pushed for all doctors to be prepared for either military service or direction by civil authorities. He presided over a major effort to stockpile drugs and medical equipment required for a mobilisation. With the help of the Department of Health and the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, most of this was delivered by July 1939.
In 1939, Downes began a tour of military and other medical centres in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Canada. While in London, he arranged for Doris and Valerie to be formally presented to the King
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and Queen
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
by Ethel Bruce, the wife of Stanley Bruce
Stanley Bruce
Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...
, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Downes foresaw a major war, fought in the islands to the north of Australia. While in London, he took steps to obtain the services as consultants of two eminent Australian physicians, the surgeon Sir Thomas Dunhill and Neil Hamilton Fairley
Neil Hamilton Fairley
Brigadier Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley KBE CStJ FRACP FRCP FRCPE FRS was an Australian physician, medical scientist, and army officer; who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from malaria and other diseases....
, an expert on tropical diseases. The outbreak of the Second World War caused Downes to curtail the North American leg of his tour, and return to Australia in October 1939.
Second World War
Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Concord Repatriation General Hospital , commonly referred to as simply Concord Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Hospital Road in Concord...
in Sydney, the Austin Hospital
Austin Hospital, Melbourne
The Austin Hospital is a major teaching public hospital located in Melbourne's north eastern suburb of Heidelberg, and is administrated by Austin Health, along with the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre.-History:...
in Melbourne and Greenslopes Private Hospital
Greenslopes Private Hospital
Greenslopes Private Hospital is a private health care provider located in Greenslopes, Brisbane, Australia. It was named Australia's Best Private Hospital, 1999 and received the Australian Private Hospitals Association's, Hospital Quality of Excellence Award, 2004.It is located within the...
in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
remain his greatest legacy.
In late 1940, medical units in the Middle East were experienced "precarious and at times acute" shortages of medicals stores. Units were sent to the Middle East as fully equipped as was possible, with the expectation that the British Army would make up the difference, but British policy was that all possible sources had to be exploited before any demands could be made on the United Kingdom's sources. General
General (Australia)
General is the second highest rank, and the highest active rank, of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of General; it is also considered a four-star rank....
Sir Thomas Blamey
Thomas Blamey
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
, the Commander in Chief of the AIF, recognised this as something that had to be negotiated between the two governments, but medical officers in the Middle East blamed the Medical Services in Australia—and therefore Downes—for the situation. The Minister of the Army, Percy Spender
Percy Spender
Sir Percy Claude Spender, KCVO, KBE, QC, , was an Australian politician. diplomat and jurist.Spender was born in Sydney and educated at the prestigious Fort Street High School and later the University of Sydney. He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1915...
decided to pay a visit to the Middle East to see the situation for himself but before he did so, he resolved that Downes should become Director of Medical Services, AIF (Middle East). On arrival in the Middle East with the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee
Vernon Sturdee
Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee KBE, CB, DSO was an Australian Army commander who served two terms as Chief of the General Staff...
, Spender found that Blamey had already appointed Major General Samuel Burston
Samuel Burston
Major General Sir Samuel Roy Burston KBE, CB, DSO, VD, FRCP, FRCPE, FRACP was an Australian soldier, physician, and horse racing identity....
to that post. This came as a surprise to them as they had not realised that Blamey had the authority to make such an appointment; but on seeing the situation for himself, Spender confirmed Burston's appointment.
On returning to Australia, Spender appointed Major General F. A. Maguire as DGMS and Downes was appointed to the newly created post of Inspector General of Medical Services (IGMS). As IGMS, Downes toured extensively—he visited all the Australian states and overseas locations where Australian troops had been sent, including Papua and New Guinea, Malaya, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), India and East Africa. When Blamey reorganised the Army on his return to Australia in 1942, he appointed Burston as Director General of Medical Services. Downes became DMS of the Second Army
Second Army (Australia)
The Australian Second Army was a field army of the Australian Army, during World War II. It was created in April 1942, when the commander of Allied land forces in the South West Pacific Area, General Thomas Blamey, gave it responsibility for land forces in the Australia's most populous areas:...
on 6 April 1942. He joined the Second AIF
Second Australian Imperial Force
The Second Australian Imperial Force was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the Defence Act , neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to...
as a major general on 27 June 1942, receiving the AIF serial number VX57673.
Death and legacy
Downes held this post until 22 August 1944. Due to the run-down of the Army, the Second Army, always mainly a paper organisation, increasingly had less and less to do. Now nearly sixty, he then accepted an invitation to write the medical history series of the official history of Australia in the war. As part of this, in March 1945, he decided to accompany Major General George Alan Vasey to New Guinea, where Vasey's 6th Division had encountered an atabrineQuinacrine
Quinacrine is a drug with a number of different medical applications. It is related to mefloquine.-Uses:Its main effects are as an antiprotozoal, antirheumatic and an intrapleural sclerosing agent....
-resistant strain of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
in the Aitape-Wewak campaign
Aitape-Wewak campaign
The Aitape–Wewak campaign was one of the final campaigns of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. Between November 1944 and the end of the war in August 1945, the Australian 6th Division, with air and naval support, fought the Imperial Japanese 18th Army in northern New Guinea...
. On 5 March 1945, the RAAF Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
aircraft they were travelling in crashed into the sea about 400 yards (365.8 m) from Machans Beach, just north of the mouth of the Barron River
Barron River (Queensland)
The Barron River is located on the Atherton Tableland inland from Cairns in Northern Queensland, Australia. With its headwater at Lake Tinaroo, it is more than 165 km long and has a catchment area of approximately 2138 km².-History:...
near Cairns. Downes and Vasey were killed along with all nine other Australian service personnel on board. Their bodies were recovered and buried in Cairns War Cemetery with full military honours. Downes was survived by Doris, Valerie and Rosemary. A memorial service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...
on 9 March 1945. He became the third most senior Australian officer to die in the Second World War, after General Sir Brudenell White
Brudenell White
General Sir Cyril Brudenell Bingham White KCB, KCMG, KCVO, DSO was a senior officer in the Australian Army, who served as Chief of the General Staff from 1920 to 1923 and again from March to August 1940, when he was killed in the Canberra air disaster.-Early Life and career:White was born in St...
, who died in the Canberra air disaster
Canberra air disaster, 1940
The 1940 Canberra air disaster was a plane crash that occurred near Canberra, the capital of Australia, on 13 August 1940, during World War II. The six passengers, including three members of the Australian Cabinet and the Chief of the General Staff, and the four crew were all killed...
in 1940, and Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Henry Wynter
Henry Wynter
Lieutenant General Henry Douglas Wynter, CB, CMG, DSO was a regular Australian Army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general during World War II...
, who died on 7 February 1945.
Downes' papers are in the Australian War Memorial
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons is the body responsible for training and examining surgeons in Australia and New Zealand. The head office of the College is in Melbourne, Australia....
established the triennial Rupert Downes Memorial Lecture in his honour. The subject of the Lecture is "related to some aspect or aspects of military surgery, medical equipment (military and civil), the surgery of children, neurosurgery, general surgery, medical ethics or medical history; these being subjects in which Downes was particularly interested".
Rupert Downes Memorial Lectures
- 1950 S.R. BurstonSamuel BurstonMajor General Sir Samuel Roy Burston KBE, CB, DSO, VD, FRCP, FRCPE, FRACP was an Australian soldier, physician, and horse racing identity....
Some Medical Aspects of Atomic Warfare - 1954 A.S. Walker The Following Wind of History
- 1957 F.K. Norris Be Strong and of Good Courage
- 1961 Sir Albert Coates The Doctor in the Services
- 1965 D. Waterson Œsophageal Replacement in Pædiatric Surgery
- 1970 J.H. Louw The Scientific Method in Surgery
- 1972 H.E. Beardmore Pædiatric Surgery – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- 1976 P.P. Rickham Nephroblastoma – a New Look at an Old Problem
- 1978 C.M. Gurner Military Medical Preparedness
- 1980 D.G. Hamilton One Hundred Years of Pædiatric Surgery in Sydney
- 1983 G.B. Ong The Trifacetted Nature of Surgery in Hong Kong
- 1988 B.A. Smithurst Distinguished Australian Military Surgeons
- 1990 Patricia K. Donahoe The Development of Tumour Inhibitors
- 1994 General Sir Phillip BennettPhillip BennettGeneral Sir Phillip Harvey Bennett AC, KBE, DSO is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army who served as Chief of the Australian Defence Force from 1984 to 1987, and later as Governor of Tasmania from 1987 to 1995....
Medical Aspects of Australia’s Defence - 1996 Professor Averil Mansfield Arterio-Venous Malformations and their Treatment
- 1998 D. Trunkey I am Giddy, Expectation Whirls me Round
- 2000 A. Wyn Beasley Of Scurvy and Shipwreck – the Dutch Discovery of Australasia
- 2002 Colonel D. Beard The Music of Warfare
- 2005 Robert Pearce Trust me, Claudius
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