Albert Coates (surgeon)
Encyclopedia
Sir Albert Ernest Coates OBE
, FRCS
(1895–1977) was an Australian surgeon
and soldier
. He served as a medical orderly
in World War I
serving on Gallipoli, and as a senior surgeon for the Australian Army Medical Corps in World War II
in Malaya. He was captured by the Japan
ese and during his time as a POW, worked as a surgeon for the many Allied POWs working to build the Burma-Thailand Railway.
, a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria
in Australia
. Aged 11 years, he left school and went to work as a butcher and an apprentice bookbinder.
and British authorities recognized his ability and, at the end of the war, he was invited to apply for a commission in the British Army. Coates preferred, however, to go home to Australia where he found employment in the office of the Commonwealth censor in Melbourne.
. Coates remained active in the military and by the outbreak of war was a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps.
next day aged 46. He was posted to the 2nd/10th Australian General Hospital and stationed at Malacca, Malaya. After the Japanese invaded on 8 December, the 2nd/10th A.G.H. fell back to Singapore; Coates was ordered to join a party which sailed on 13 February 1942 for Java, Netherlands East Indies. The convoy was bombed and the survivors reached Tembilahan, Sumatra, where Coates saved many lives with his surgical skill. He made himself responsible for treating all British casualties, and felt duty-bound to stay with them, though he could have left on several occasions. On 28 February he arrived at Padang which was occupied by the Japanese three weeks later and Coates became a prisoner of war.
In December 1943 the Japanese sent Coates to Thailand. There, from March 1944, he was chief medical officer of a prisoner-of-war hospital (10,000 beds) at Nakhon Pathom (Nakompaton). Through 'his initiative, resource and enthusiasm he was responsible for many improvisations which provided artificial limbs, transfusions and surgical appliances'. (Sir) Edward Dunlop
recalled that Coates's 'short, upright figure with a ghost of a swagger, a Burma cheroot clamped in his mouth, and his staccato flow of kindly, earthly wisdom became the object of hero-worship and inspiration'. With the cessation of hostilities, Coates returned to Melbourne in October 1945, transferred to the Reserve of Officers on 6 December and was appointed O.B.E. in 1946. Coates was a key witness at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in ‘46, was awarded an OBE in ’47, was an RSL delegate at the signing of the Peace Treaty in the USA in ’51, and was knighted by the Queen in ’55.
(FRCS).
in 1946 for "distinguished service in the field". He was knighted
in 1955 and in 1981 was made a Member of the British Empire (Civil)
for his "services to the handicapped and veterans".
A statue in honour of Sir Albert Ernest Coates is located in the main street of his home town of Ballarat.
On 8 September 2006 the University of Ballarat
renamed its student union building the Albert Coates Complex.
The Sir Albert Coates Oration is an annual event at the University of Ballarat
. The following speeches have been given. 2006 - Professor Kwong Lee Dow, former Vice-Chancellor pro tem, ‘Contrasting Education in the Time of Albert Coates with Education Today’.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, FRCS
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
(1895–1977) was an Australian surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
and soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
. He served as a medical orderly
Orderly
A medical orderly , is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and/or nursing staff with various nursing and/or medical interventions. These duties are classified as routine tasks involving no risk for the patient.- Job details :Orderlies are often utilized in various hospital...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
serving on Gallipoli, and as a senior surgeon for the Australian Army Medical Corps in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in Malaya. He was captured by the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese and during his time as a POW, worked as a surgeon for the many Allied POWs working to build the Burma-Thailand Railway.
Early life
Coates was born in Mount PleasantMount Pleasant, Victoria
Mount Pleasant is a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia located south of the CBD. It is one of the few original gold mining towns in the Ballarat district established during the Victorian gold rush...
, a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Aged 11 years, he left school and went to work as a butcher and an apprentice bookbinder.
First World War service
In 1914 Coates enlisted in the 7th Battalion as a medical orderly and the following year served on Gallipoli. Coates was one of the last to leave the peninsula on the night of 19/20 December 1915. His battalion was then transferred to France in March 1916 and fought in the battle of the Somme. His skill as a linguist came to the attention of his superiors and in February 1917 he was attached to the intelligence staff, I Anzac Corps. Sir John MonashJohn Monash
General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the War and then became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt shortly after the outbreak of the War with whom he took part...
and British authorities recognized his ability and, at the end of the war, he was invited to apply for a commission in the British Army. Coates preferred, however, to go home to Australia where he found employment in the office of the Commonwealth censor in Melbourne.
Between The Wars
After the war and on his return to Australia Coates worked nights as a postal worker to support himself through medical school. In 1925 Coates became a resident at (Royal) Melbourne Hospital. He worked with Professor Richard Berry in the university's department of anatomy, first as a Stewart lecturer (1925–26) and next as acting-professor (1927). Back at (Royal) Melbourne Hospital, he was appointed honorary surgeon to out-patients in 1927 and to in-patients in 1935. Following his first wife's death he visited surgical centres in Britain, Europe and North America; shortly after his return he was asked to establish the neurosurgical unit at the R.M.H. From 1936 to 1940 he was part-time lecturer in surgical anatomy at the University of MelbourneUniversity 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...
. Coates remained active in the military and by the outbreak of war was a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps.
Second World War and capture in Sumatra
Appointed lieutenant colonel, Australian Army Medical Corps, on 1 January 1941, Coates joined the Australian Imperial ForceAustralian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
next day aged 46. He was posted to the 2nd/10th Australian General Hospital and stationed at Malacca, Malaya. After the Japanese invaded on 8 December, the 2nd/10th A.G.H. fell back to Singapore; Coates was ordered to join a party which sailed on 13 February 1942 for Java, Netherlands East Indies. The convoy was bombed and the survivors reached Tembilahan, Sumatra, where Coates saved many lives with his surgical skill. He made himself responsible for treating all British casualties, and felt duty-bound to stay with them, though he could have left on several occasions. On 28 February he arrived at Padang which was occupied by the Japanese three weeks later and Coates became a prisoner of war.
POW Burma-Thailand Railway
In May 1942 the Japanese moved Coates to Burma. At the Kilo-30 and Kilo-55 camps on the Burma-Thailand Railway he cared for hundreds of prisoners of war under deplorable conditions. Coates subsequently described his medical practice at Kilo-55 to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East: in a bamboo lean-to, with his only instruments a knife, two pairs of artery forceps and a saw (used by the camp butchers and carpenters), his daily work consisted of 'segregating the sick from the very sick . . . curetting seventy or eighty ulcers during the morning . . . and, in the afternoon, proceeding to amputate nine or ten legs'.In December 1943 the Japanese sent Coates to Thailand. There, from March 1944, he was chief medical officer of a prisoner-of-war hospital (10,000 beds) at Nakhon Pathom (Nakompaton). Through 'his initiative, resource and enthusiasm he was responsible for many improvisations which provided artificial limbs, transfusions and surgical appliances'. (Sir) Edward Dunlop
Edward Dunlop
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop, AC, CMG, OBE was an Australian surgeon who was renowned for his leadership while being held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II.-Early life and family:...
recalled that Coates's 'short, upright figure with a ghost of a swagger, a Burma cheroot clamped in his mouth, and his staccato flow of kindly, earthly wisdom became the object of hero-worship and inspiration'. With the cessation of hostilities, Coates returned to Melbourne in October 1945, transferred to the Reserve of Officers on 6 December and was appointed O.B.E. in 1946. Coates was a key witness at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in ‘46, was awarded an OBE in ’47, was an RSL delegate at the signing of the Peace Treaty in the USA in ’51, and was knighted by the Queen in ’55.
Career
In between the wars, Coates studied surgery and helped to establish the Neurosurgical Society of Australia. He returned to surgical work following World War Two later became Senior Surgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Stewart Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Melbourne. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of SurgeonsFellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
(FRCS).
Awards and recognition
Coates was made an Officer of the British Empire (Military)Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1946 for "distinguished service in the field". He was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1955 and in 1981 was made a Member of the British Empire (Civil)
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for his "services to the handicapped and veterans".
A statue in honour of Sir Albert Ernest Coates is located in the main street of his home town of Ballarat.
On 8 September 2006 the University of Ballarat
University of Ballarat
The University of Ballarat is a dual-sector university in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It was formed by the passage of an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1994, from the Ballarat College of Advanced Education...
renamed its student union building the Albert Coates Complex.
The Sir Albert Coates Oration is an annual event at the University of Ballarat
University of Ballarat
The University of Ballarat is a dual-sector university in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It was formed by the passage of an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1994, from the Ballarat College of Advanced Education...
. The following speeches have been given. 2006 - Professor Kwong Lee Dow, former Vice-Chancellor pro tem, ‘Contrasting Education in the Time of Albert Coates with Education Today’.