03. Sir Neville Howse

Sir Neville Howse VC, KCB, KCMG: The first Australian VC recipient.

Everyone knows one of those guys who is just naturally gifted at everything they do. The kind of guys that makes the hardest of tasks look effortless. Now, more often than not, there is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes but regardless, they are fucking machines, and it makes us mere mortals out here trying our best look pitiful in comparison. The man we are talking about today is one of these guys. Doctor, Victoria Cross Recipient, Army General, Sir Neville Howse could do it all.

Before the man was knighted and awarded the Commonwealth's highest honour, Neville Reginald Howse was born on 26 October in 1863 in a town called Stogursey, in the south of England. Howse, was educated at Fullard's House School in Tauton and went on to study medicine at London Hospital before migrating to Australia in 1889. Howse settled down in Taree, New South Wales where he picked up a job as a doctor in the Manning River Hospital. The work was steady but lacked a certain amount of excitement he wanted in life. Howse continued his study and went on to become a Surgeon and moving to Orange New South Wales. Once again, the work was steady and rewarding but Howse still felt that there was more he could do. In October 1899 Howse would get his chance.

In classic English fashion, war was declared on the Boer Republics on the southern tip of the African continent in an effort to expand territorial ambitions. With Australia yet to raise their own military for another year, Neville Howse enlisted into the Australian contingent of the British army in the year 1900 as a surgeon. The now Lieutenant Neville Howse was assigned to the 2nd Contingent and sailed to South Africa soon after.

After a long journey across the ocean, the 2nd Contingent arrived in South Africa. Before these Aussies could even get their boots on the dirt, word came their way that a British train had been derailed and looted near the village of Vredefort. A British General sent part of the 2nd Contingent force, accompanied by members of the Medical Corps to assist. As Lieutenant Neville Howse and the rest of the imperial troops closed in on the scene, they were attacked. Amongst the onslaught of bullets, one of Howse's mates, was shot through the bladder and the poor bugger was left bleeding in the open. While the rest of the imperial soldiers retreated, Howse charged forward on his horse. Through a maelstrom of small arms fire, he road towards his mate. Hoofs pounded against the hardened red clay as Howse dug in his spurs to urge his horse to gallop on despite the danger when suddenly it was shot out from beneath him. Howse was flung from his saddle and slid across the gravel. Without skipping a beat, Howse used the momentum to roll to his feet, grabbing his med pack along the way and continued to charge forward and close the distance between himself and the injured soldier. In what must have been a display of zero fucks given about your own personal safety attitude, Howse somehow managed to make it to his mate without a single bullet hitting him, before quickly dragging this dying comrade to a boulder. Flint sparked off the stone that shielded them from danger but Howse continued to dress the mans wounds undeterred. Howse then, flung the injured soldier over his shoulder and ran back through the hail of bullets from whence he came back to safety.

For this act of valour and total disregard for his own life at Vredefort, Howse was promoted to Captain and was recommended for the highest award the army could bestow, the Victoria Cross. This was the first time any Australian citizen had been recommended for a Victoria Cross and he was officially awarded it, in June 1901. The announcement of Howse's Victoria Cross started an odyssey of recognition of Australian courage and sacrifice which has spanned more than a century. (If all you care about is how he was awarded the Victoria Cross stop reading here).

The Boer War would see 75,000 lives lost, 22,000 being commonwealth soldiers. Captain Neville Howse served in South Africa until 1902 in an effort to save some of these lives and was there promoted to Major before returning to Australia where he oversaw a stretcher-bearer Company in Orange.

At the outbreak of World War 1, the now Lieutenant Colonel was appointed principal medical officer to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to German New Guinea. Multiple battles took place throughout this campaign and Lietenant Colonel Howse's health team combated both the Germans and the harsh Papua New Guinea environment in their effort to save lives but the island was soon captured and brought into the commonwealth.

Not accepting that being a surgeon, becoming a war hero and being a veteran of two wars were more than what most men accomplish in one life time, Howse decided that he hadn't seen enough and would love to move onto his next campaign. Howse set sail to the Middle East as soon as he was able and was appointed assistant director of medical services, 1st Australian Division and was promoted to the rank of Colonel. Howse arrived n Cairo in time to earn the title of an original ANZAC, and was there when the diggers landed at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915. Appalled by the lack of planning for the treatment and removal of wounded soldiers, (glad to see the med planning was paid off back then too) Howse took charge of the beach and evacuation of wounded men. Multiple accounts recall Howse never breaking stride as bullets peppering the sand beneath his feet, whilst he marched across the beach to direct where to place injured soldiers. His focus was entirely on the well being of others, demonstrating the selfishness we try to instill in our soldiers today.

Howse stayed on the beach throughout the first few days of the landing, where he continued to supervise the evacuation of the dead and wounded. During the famous truce of 24 May 1915, when the Turks and ANZAC's agreed to a short ceasefire, Howse was instrumental in the removal of thousands of cadavers that had been festering on the battlefield. For these efforts, Howse received the Order of the Bath.

Following the battle at Lone Pine, Howse once again took charge in the removal and treatment of enormous numbers of wounded and dying men. He worked for 12 hours without rest, in order to assist in the evacuation of more than 700 casualties before he himself was wounded by a Turkish sniper. Howse continued to work tirelessly to speed up the removal of casualties throughout the remainder of the Gallipoli campaign and would become director of the AIF's medical services before its conclusion.

Following the failed Gallipoli campaign, Howse continued the war effort in France where he reorganised and improved the medical corps within the rapidly growing AIF. In early 1916, he created new medical staffs for three new divisions and restructured the field ambulances to make them more efficient. His changes were of course overturned by the next British commander however the military wheel continued to rotate and very soon we recycled those same old ideas and bought them back again in 1917 when Neville Howse was promoted to Major General. Following this promotion, Howse was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of Bath and remained commanding medical corps in France for the remainder of the war.

In 1919, when the fighting was done and dusted, Howse returned to London to help with the medical treatment and repatriation of returning servicemen. He was mentioned in despatches and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, as well as a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.

In 1920, Sir Neville Howse returned back to Australia and would go on to become the Mayor of Orange (TWICE!), be elected to the house of representatives, become a member of the Australian delegation to the fourth assembly of the League of Nations, become the minister of Defence, and finally the minister of Health. As minister of Health, Sir Neville Howse set up the world's first radium banks. This was to help aid in the fight against cancer. Ironically, despite his years of fighting cancer as a researcher and surgeon, it was to that illness that would he would eventually fall. Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse VC, KCB, KCMG was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and lost the battle in 1930 at age 66.

As the first Australian to receive a Victoria Cross, Sir Neville Howse VC demonstrated the selfless desire to aid others over ones self that forms the moral foundation of med corps today.