Must have been one of the oldest in wartime RNZAF
Sept 16, 2022 0:19:50 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 16, 2022 0:19:50 GMT 12
This chap must have been one of the oldest active members of the RNZAF during WWII. From The Press, 16 June 1975:
Work as usual for oldest practitioner
(New Zealand Press Association) WHANGAREI, June 15.
Despite the arrival of a telegram announcing his award of the Queen’s Service Medal, it was work as usual for New Zealand’s oldest practising doctor, Dr F. W. W. Dawson, in Whangarei yesterday.
“I had eight patients in here, so that I really did not stop to think about it too much,” said Dr Dawson, who will be 99 on October 22.
“But I am very delighted Her Majesty has been gracious enough to notice my work. It makes me feel very proud that perhaps I have been doing a satisfactory job.” At 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day, 1900, Dr Dawson became the first doctor to register in Britain in the twentieth century. He had gone to Westminster after passing his medical intermediate at Auckland University College. He was educated at the Church of England Grammar School, Auckland, and St Johns College, where he was head boy.
MILITARY SERVICE
He volunteered for the Boer War, and later served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Ireland.
A specialist in tropical diseases, he served in India and Africa during World War I, and commanded a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf. He was a lieutenant-colonel when he left the Medical Corps in 1924. Returning to New Zealand, he was a medical officer of health in districts including Christchurch, Hamilton, and New Plymouth.
Although technically a pensioner when World War II began, he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and became senior medical officer at the Hobsonville base. In 1942, he began practice in Whangarei.
TO WORK ON
A widower with two surviving children, Dr Dawson has no plans to retire. “I cannot retire. There are just not enough doctors in New Zealand. Besides, I am still going as strong as I can, even though my legs are going a bit.”
As a family doctor, he feels more general practitioners are urgently needed.
Work as usual for oldest practitioner
(New Zealand Press Association) WHANGAREI, June 15.
Despite the arrival of a telegram announcing his award of the Queen’s Service Medal, it was work as usual for New Zealand’s oldest practising doctor, Dr F. W. W. Dawson, in Whangarei yesterday.
“I had eight patients in here, so that I really did not stop to think about it too much,” said Dr Dawson, who will be 99 on October 22.
“But I am very delighted Her Majesty has been gracious enough to notice my work. It makes me feel very proud that perhaps I have been doing a satisfactory job.” At 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day, 1900, Dr Dawson became the first doctor to register in Britain in the twentieth century. He had gone to Westminster after passing his medical intermediate at Auckland University College. He was educated at the Church of England Grammar School, Auckland, and St Johns College, where he was head boy.
MILITARY SERVICE
He volunteered for the Boer War, and later served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Ireland.
A specialist in tropical diseases, he served in India and Africa during World War I, and commanded a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf. He was a lieutenant-colonel when he left the Medical Corps in 1924. Returning to New Zealand, he was a medical officer of health in districts including Christchurch, Hamilton, and New Plymouth.
Although technically a pensioner when World War II began, he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and became senior medical officer at the Hobsonville base. In 1942, he began practice in Whangarei.
TO WORK ON
A widower with two surviving children, Dr Dawson has no plans to retire. “I cannot retire. There are just not enough doctors in New Zealand. Besides, I am still going as strong as I can, even though my legs are going a bit.”
As a family doctor, he feels more general practitioners are urgently needed.
