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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E004914 - Bradfield, Sir Ernest William Charles (1880 - 1963)
Title:
Bradfield, Sir Ernest William Charles (1880 - 1963)
Author:
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Identifier:
RCS: E004914
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2014-01-22
Description:
Obituary for Bradfield, Sir Ernest William Charles (1880 - 1963), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Bradfield, Sir Ernest William Charles
Date of Birth:
28 May 1880
Date of Death:
26 October 1963
Place of Death:
London
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
KCIE 1941

OBE

FRCS by election 12 April 1962

MB BS London 1903

MS 1911

FRCS Ed 1911

LSA 1902
Details:
Born on 28 May 1880, son of W G Bradfield of Moseley. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and St Mary's Hospital, London, where he obtained an open scholarship in science in 1898. He joined the IMS on 31 August 1903 and first saw service on the North-West Frontier in 1908, being awarded a medal with clasp. In the 1914-18 war he was again on the Frontier and later in Mesopotamia and was mentioned in dispatches and promoted Major on 28 February 1915. On 28 February 1923 he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, and in 1924 was appointed Professor of Surgery at the Madras Medical College; during his term there he brought the hospital, the oldest in the country, up to the level of the most modern. In 1933 he served in the Upper Mohmand campaign and was again mentioned in dispatches. He was Honorary Surgeon to the King-Emperor 1935-39 and was Medical Director General of the IMS 1937-39. He was more interested in maintaining the efficiency of the service than in deferring to the movement towards Indianisation, and left India without the customary knighthood. He returned to England in 1939 to become President of the Medical Branch of the India Office and medical adviser to the Secretary of State, holding this position till 1946. Early in the second world war he was sent to India, as a member of the Souttar Commission, to investigate the lack of medical officers for service with the armies of the East owing to the non-co-operation of the Indian Congress Party. He was largely instrumental in the formation of the Indian Army Medical Corps, and was created KCIE in 1941 for his services. Throughout his life he was keenly interested in sport. At St Mary's he represented the Hospital at Rugby football and cricket. During his military service in India while attached to the 31st Lancers he played polo for the regiment, an unusual achievement for a doctor. In 1920 he married Margaret Anne, daughter of H A Barnard of Olton, by whom he had two daughters. He died on 26 October 1963 at Putney Hospital.
Sources:
*The Times* 28 October 1963, p 15 B with portrait

*Brit med J* 1963, 2, 1136 with portrait and appreciation by G McR, and p 1414 by P V Cherian

*Lancet* 1963, 2, 951
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E004000-E004999/E004900-E004999
Media Type:
Unknown