Respected surgeon honoured
One of Central Otago’s sons has finally received recognition for an international war effort in which he became one of the world’s greatest battlefield surgeons. Pam Jones finds out more about the life and contribution of Douglas Waddell Jolly.
HE changed wartime surgery permanently, developing practices that would be adopted internationally and colour modern medicine, too.
But little had been known of the contributions of Douglas Waddell Jolly until a group effort gave him some recognition in his home town.
Mr Jolly was born in Cromwell in 1904 and studied medicine and surgery at the University of Otago.
He later moved to England and then joined the International Brigade medical service, serving during the Spanish Civil War on the republican side. Later he served with the British Army in World War 2 at Tobruk, in Libya, and in Italy.
He was subsequently awarded the Order of the British Empire, his citation being signed by General B. L. Montgomery, Central Otago Heritage Trust chairman Graye Shattky said.
Mr Shattky said Gen Montgomery’s citation said Mr Jolly ‘‘has probably the widest experience of war surgery of any surgeon of the present day. His cases received every care and attention and the remarkably good results obtained must, in large measure, be attributed to Ltcol Jolly’s professional and administrative ability and sound judgement’’.
Mr Shattky, who helped organise the Central Otago logistics of installing a plaque for Mr Jolly that was unveiled at a ceremony in the Old Cromwell Historic Precinct yesterday, said there were many themes and ‘‘chords of history’’ to Mr Jolly’s journey and influence, and his story resonated on many levels.
Orthopaedic surgeon Patrick Medlicott, formerly of Alexandra, now of New Plymouth, who is one of three men researching Mr Jolly’s life, said Mr Jolly became one of the world’s most notable battlefield surgeons.
‘‘He was quoted extensively round the world in military surgical circles as the person who basically wrote the book for surgery for wars . . . at the time it was the most uptodate book on how to handle mass war casualties.’’
(Mr Jolly’s book Field Surgery in Total War was published in 1940).
Mr Shattky said the various strands to Mr Jolly’s story included his connection with Central Otago and his shift to Europe in the 1930s. His time in Spain and contribution to the republican war effort during the Spanish Civil War was the reason the acting Spanish ambassador to New Zealand, Vicente Mas Taladriz, attended yesterday’s Cromwell ceremony.
Mr Jolly changed how surgery was conducted on the battlefield and saved ‘‘thousands of lives’’ during his service, making a worldchanging contribution to wartime medical science that was then incorporated into the civilian world, including for work in rescue and disaster relief, Mr Shattky said.
Mr Jolly had also inspired the establishment of the New Zealand Defence Force’s first mobile surgical unit, in Egypt, in World War 2, after medical benefactor Sir Arthur Sim was inspired by Mr Jolly’s war surgery book and funded the unit.
Mr Jolly had ‘‘basically reversed medical practice’’ during his era. War wounded had always been taken back through various lines and stations before being treated at a hospital, Mr Shattky said.
Previously the wounded would go first to a Regimental Aid Post, then possibly a local branch of a field ambulance, then a casualty clearing station, then by hospital train to a hospital.
‘‘If they survived all of that’’, then they would finally receive surgical attention, Mr Shattky said.
But Mr Jolly ‘‘turned all that around’’, making sure the wounded received as much surgical attention as possible as close to the front line as possible, and also developing ‘‘hidden’’ hospitals in places such as caves and railway stations.
He also contributed to better evacuation pathways and things such as the better use of anaesthesia and blood transfusions, Brigadier Brian McMahon, of Dunedin, who served as a surgeon in the Vietnam War and later became the Director General of Defence Medical Services for the New Zealand Defence Force, said.
He said it was ‘‘a great thing’’ that Mr Jolly was finally being honoured in his hometown, and ‘‘the local district needs to know’’ of his contribution to the international war effort and medicine.
A biography is now being written about Mr Jolly by author and historian Mark Derby.
Mr Derby said the Old Cromwell plaque and increased knowledge of Mr Jolly would hopefully restore him to the ‘‘lofty, lofty place he deserves to hold’’.
Intensive care specialist David Lowe, who is also researching Mr Jolly, said it was also important to note Mr Jolly’s warm and compassionate personality and his deep commitment towards serving people.
Family members Brian and Barbara Jolly, Mr Jolly’s nephew and niece, spoke of their uncle’s ‘‘colourful character’’, and of how much he was loved by his family.
The plaque honouring Mr Jolly has been placed on the Old Cromwell Historic Precinct’s Grain and Seed Store (now the Grain and Seed Cafe), which was previously owned by Mr Jolly’s grandfather.
For more information about Douglas Waddell Jolly go to ronsdalepress.com/livesoulscitizensandvolunteersofcivilwarspain/