William Wilkin Davey

William Wilkin Davey

Will Davey, who wrote the first textbook on surgery in tropical countries and fused his medical work with his Christian convictions to pass on his skills in Africa, has died in Altona, Melbourne, Australia. He was 92.

A past president of the Australian Provincial Surgeons Association, he had moved from London in 1969 to settle in Australia with his wife, Gill, and their five children.

Ever one for a fresh challenge, he set up as a surgeon in general practice in Portland, Victoria, where he also became the port and quarantine officer, and medical officer at the town’s large meat works.

A son of the manse, Will was born in Dunmurry, near Belfast in Northern Ireland. One of five children, he took up medicine and graduated from Queens University, Belfast, in 1935. Enlisting in the armed forces at the beginning of the second world war coincided with the commencement of his surgical training. He was given time to complete his exams to become a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland before being assigned to the RAF as a medical officer. He was the first surgeon to land in Normandy on D Day, and among his photos are pictures of trenches dug in the beaches, where surgeons could stand to operate on the wounded, who would remain at beach level. It was a sad irony that he died just a few days before the 60th anniversary celebrations of D Day.

It was during his university studies that his mother gave him a copy of the book For Sinners Only, which led to his lifelong involvement with Moral Re-Armament.

After the war, Will trained in the field of gastroenterology at St James’s Hospital, Balham, London, and subsequently became consultant surgeon at the Whittington Hospital, running a gastroenterological unit for the whole of north London. His experience in this area resulted in him being honoured in 1958 with the Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was later also made a fellow of the British, American, and Australian colleges of surgery.

He married Gill (née Taylor) in Reading, England, in 1950 and subsequently had five children.

Will ran courses to prepare surgeons for the FRCS and his skills as a teacher led to an invitation from London University to go to Nigeria to become the first professor of surgery at the University College, Ibadan. This invitation cut across the professional opportunities before him in London, but he felt God wanted him to use his skills to benefit African doctors. The first 14 doctors ever to graduate within Nigeria itself were among his first students.

Returning to London, Will finished writing Companion to Surgery in Africa, the first textbook on surgery for tropical countries, in 1968. The Lancet said of it: "It is almost impossible to fault this handsome book . . . with its nice blend of firm dogmatic teaching and honest doubt. This is bound to become the standard text." It had applications for other tropical countries and a second edition was printed before his death. Will was being consulted about a third edition. In latter years he spent periods working in India and Papua New Guinea, where he was pleased to find his book being used.

Will was a lifelong mentor of students and maintained contact with them as far afield as Nigeria, Russia, Cambodia, and Korea.

His interests included sports of different kinds and photography.

Will is survived by Gill and their five children, 10 grandchildren, and one great grandson. [Catherine Davey]