Mary Gwenyth "Gwen" Fleming (née Lusby),
FRACP
Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, abbreviated as the post-nominal initials FRACP, is a recognition of the completion of the prescribed postgraduate specialist training programme in internal adult or internal paediatric medicin ...
, (9 June 1916 – 18 January 2011)
was an Australian
medical doctor who specialised in
thoracic medicine
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...
and served in the
Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...
during the Second World War.
Early life and education
Mary Gwenyth Lusby was born in
Taree
Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distr ...
in 1916, the third of six children of John and Caroline Lusby. Her maternal grandmother, Caroline Fitzhenry, had been a pioneer of health care in the
Clarence River district of northern NSW, and founded the Bilongil Private Hospital at
Casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
, and the St Rock's Hospital at Ballina. Through the Fitzhenrys, Gwen was a cousin of the film star
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...
.
Gwen's father John Lusby was a school principal and classics master in country NSW, and so the family moved around the state until his eventual teaching appointment in Sydney.
[AMA Obituary: Mary Gwenyth (GWEN) Fleming (1916-2011) MBBS. F.R.A.C.P.](_blank)
; Australian Medical Association; 7 Mar 2011 He insisted on his daughters acquiring a high education.
Gwen achieved her NSW Leaving Certificate at
St George Girls High School,
Kogarah
Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George, New South ...
in 1932 and her Baccalaureate in 1933.
She graduated as
MBBS from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
in 1939 and was among the first group of women medical graduates to pass through the University and
Sancta Sophia College
Sancta Sophia College (colloquially as Sancta) is a residential college for undergraduate women and postgraduate men and women at the University of Sydney. The college has a Catholic foundation but admits students of all religions. Fiona Hasting ...
.
Military service
After graduation, she was appointed as a resident medical officer at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Newcastle, until she enlisted for war service.
Gwen joined the
Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...
(RAAMC) and, along with Captain Helen Braye, was appointed to the staff of the
113th Australian General Hospital at Concord in Feb 1942, where Captains
Margery Scott-Young
Margery Scott-Young (25 May 1912 – 4 November 1997) was an Australian surgeon at Sydney's Rachel Forster Hospital. She served as a major in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps during the Second World War.
Biography
Margery Scott-Young was b ...
and
Eileen Scott-Young were already serving as the only female doctors. In May 1942, ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that "for the first time in the history of Australia, women doctors have been enlisted in the
AIF", and that Gwen was one of six serving at Concord.
Initially a Captain, Gwen was later promoted to the rank of Major.
Although she specialised in
thoracic medicine
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...
, she oversaw all medical procedures at the hospital as Officer Commanding the Medical Company.
[ As one of the first female majors in the RAAMC, she said that her colleagues "called me 'sir' during the war".][ Concord Hospital treated Allied servicemen and women as well as enemy prisoners of war. Gwen insisted on equal care being given to Japanese POWs, even as her own brother Robert Lusby of the 2/30th Battalion was suffering as a prisoner of the Japanese. At war's end, liberated Australian POWs began returning through Gwen's wards. Her search for brother Robert among the returnees ended with a telegram announcing his death in a Japanese camp two years before.]
Gwen’s other siblings were heavily involved in the War. Elder brother Jack Lusby, a well known cartoonist and short story writer, fought with the RAAF in the Mediterranean Theatre; and brother Maurice Lusby, was sent to Washington and London as Australian Scientific Research Liaison Officer (a radio physicist, he worked with Robert J. Oppenheimer, the atomic bomb scientist).[Jack Lusby RAAF War Journal 1942 - 1945](_blank)
by Jack Lusby (transcribed with commentary by Maria (Lusby) Simms, 2012 Siste
Judith (Lusby) Follett
worked with the WRANS in naval intelligence. Youngest sister Elizabeth missed war service, but entered the Dominican Sisters
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
at the end of the War, later becoming a teacher and prioress.
In 1945, at the conclusion of the war, Gwen became one of the first women granted membership of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand.
The RACP is responsible for training both ...
(RACP).[
]
Later career
During the War, Gwen met Justin Fleming
Justin Fleming (born 3 January 1953) is an Australian playwright and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, opera, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, ...
, a surgeon with the Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
. The couple were married in 1946, and, after demobilisation, relocated to Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, where Justin had been awarded a Nuffield Fellowship. While her husband studied for his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal ...
, Gwen became the breadwinner, working as a thoracic physician at Brentwood Hospital in Essex.
The Flemings returned to Australia in 1950 and settled in Wollstonecraft, a suburb of Sydney. Gwen's career was largely interrupted by caring for their six children - Margaret, Paul, Justin
Justin may refer to: People
* Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin
* Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire
* Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...
, Judith, James and Peter - but in 1973 she nonetheless appointed Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, abbreviated as the post-nominal initials FRACP, is a recognition of the completion of the prescribed postgraduate specialist training programme in internal adult or internal paediatric medicin ...
. Her husband established a career as a pioneer vascular surgeon and founded the Australian Association of Surgeons, but his shock death of a heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
in 1974 brought Gwen back into medical practice.Royal College of Surgeons - Lives of the Fellows: Fleming, Justin Paul (1917 - 1974)
https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/; online 25 Feb 2019 She took up a post at a cancer clinic on Macquarie Street while also teaching at St Vincent's Hospital.
She retired at 77 years old and died in 2011. After Fleming's death, Marie Bashir
Dame Marie Roslyn Bashir (born 1 December 1930) is the former and second longest-serving Governor of New South Wales. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positio ...
, then Governor of New South Wales, described her as "an outstanding Australian woman who was an inspiration to so many who had the privilege of meeting her – both within the medical profession and beyond".[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Gwen
1916 births
2011 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Australian women in World War II
Australian women medical doctors
Australian medical doctors
Medical doctors from Sydney
People from Taree
People from the North Shore, Sydney
Sydney Medical School alumni