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Albert Coates - The Life


Albert Ernest Coates was the first of seven children born to Arthur and Clara Coates at Mt. Pleasant, Ballarat, attending the primary school there.

From humble beginnings, first as a butcher's apprentice and working in a printer, Albert aged 19 volunteered for service in WW1. Served in Egypt, Gallipoli and Flanders as a medical orderly and later with the Intelligence Corps.  Back home from WW1 he undertook a medical course (whilst working at night) qualifying with distinction. His chosen field was surgery, and he became one of Australia's pioneers in the field of Neurosurgery.

Albert again volunteered for active service in WW2, went as Senior Surgeon with 2/10th AGH of the 8th Division to Malaya.  Captured by the Japanese in Sumatra, he was taken to Burma. As an experienced soldier and a highly qualified and experienced surgeon among the many doctors in the POW working camps along the infamous Burma-Siam Railway, he saved hundreds of lives.

Safely home from WW2, Albert Coates resumed his hospital appointment, engaged in many professional, teaching, lecturing and other community activities. He became a leader of the medical profession and a man of affairs in Victoria.

Sir Albert was a mentor of Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop, who pays tribute to him in his diaries. In his eulogy at Coates' memorial service Sir Edward Dunlop said "So we have this man, a master surgeon, soldier, teacher, orator, ambassador extraordinary... a man so gifted, so full of spirit and endeavour and so courageous and who gave so much of himself to the public good and our good that his whole life is on a plane so far above the average man... All in all, I think we can say 'There was a man, we may not see his like again"

The Coates Family c.1934

Albert Coates in Egypt during WW1

Ballarat: The Early Years

Albert Coates was born on January 28 th, 1895 at Mt. Pleasant. As a child he was fascinated by study and his sister Evelyn recalled: 'I don't remember Albert milking. He was always studying.'

From the age of ten he worked in a butcher's shop on Saturdays from 7am to 10pm. He delivered parcels of meat to homes, he cleaned, spent time stringing sausages, scraping tripe and filling small bags of dripping. His pay was one shilling and occasionally a piece of tripe and a cow heel. Later he worked from 7am to 9am each weekday as well as Saturdays, earning three shillings a week.  He gained the Merit Certificate at 11 years and left Mt. Pleasant Primary School .

He was again apprenticed to a butcher and his hours were weekdays from 7am - 6pm and 11pm at night on Saturday. Much to his father's distress, Albert was sacked for accidentally smashing the back of a butcher's cart.

However, Coates had an ambition for a career in medicine. To get into university you had to study in church schools or through independant teachers.

Fortunately, his former primary teacher, Leslie Morshead, coached him two nights a week in Latin, French, History, English Literature and Mathematics, all for three guineas a term. Coates had joined the Ballarat Litho and Printing Company and was indentured as a book binder at six shillings a week, studying at night.

Eventually he gained five distinctions in the Junior Public Examination in 1913, qualifying to enroll at Melbourne University. As he could not afford to take his place at university, he moved to Wangaratta where he worked in the Postal Department and studied in his spare time. The momentous events of World War One were about to change Albert Coates’ fortunes forever.

World War One

By 1914 Coates was able to start a university medical course, however World War One brought a sudden change of plan. Coates was an idealistic 19-year-old when he enlisted at Wangaratta on 17th August 1914, as a medical orderly attached to the 7th Battalion 1st A.I.F. His time on board was spent assisting the doctor inoculating the men against typhoid.

On the way to England, he was encamped in Mena, Cairo, near the pyramids. One of his main tasks was to drive a springless horse drawn Maltese cart, transporting medical supplies and the wounded.

His main interest was the study of languages. He studied German on board ship and in Egypt he continued his study of languages at the Berlitz School and took Arabic.

Coates was on board the fleet of transports and warships that headed for Gallipoli in April 1915. Coates watched in horror and frustration at the withering fire that cut down the first waves of landing troops. Although he was in the trench and gas warfare on the Somme where his duties were medical, he was soon transferred, because of his linguistic talents, to the intelligence section of the Australian Army as the battalion's interpreter.

He left France in October 1918 and returned with other Anzacs to Australia, on leave. The war ended a few weeks later, on November 11.

A Life in Medicine

Albert Coates studied medicine at Melbourne University between 1919 and 1924 after serving at Gallipoli. For some of this time he worked at the Censor's Department and then he transferred to the GPO in Spencer Street, as a postal assistant on the 10 pm to 6 am shift. In 1924 Coates was offered the Stewart Lectureship in anatomy. This was an event which changed the course of his career. It was a gateway to more study, and an opportunity to develop his teaching ability.

He gained degrees in Doctor of Medicine in 1926 and Master of Surgery in 1927 and was appointed Honorary Surgeon to Outpatients at the Melbourne Hospital in the same year. Through the depression, the outpatients work, and emergency surgery proved a heavy load, but as well as this he developed his reputation as a surgeon and a teacher.

Coates' interest in neurosurgery led him to travel overseas in the mid-1930s. On his return he helped form a neurosurgical unit, and later in 1940 with a group of surgeons, the Neurosurgical Society of Australia.

At the outbreak of the Second World War Coates enlisted but was refused until the centre of action shifted to the Pacific area. On 1st January 1941 he was called up.

Prisoner of War Hero

When World War 2 broke out in 1939 Coates was nearing the age of 45. He felt a strong commitment to once again serve his country. and in January 1941 sailed for Singapore with the 8th Australian Division attached to a medical unit as Senior Surgeon with the rank of Lieut. Colonel.

At the fall of Singapore, with patients and hospital staff he embarked on a coastal steamer bound for Java. The ship was sunk by enemy fire and the survivors ended up on the Dutch controlled island of Sumatra. Coates had, on several occasions, taken the brave decision to stay with his unit and not to return to safety as ordered by the military. In March 1942 the island was surrendered to the Japanese and Coates' ordeal as a prisoner of war began. With scarcely any medical equipment, all the POW doctors faced great odds to keep the prisoners alive.

  Late in January 1944, Coates, with orderlies and others, was sent to the Nakompaton camp where the Japanese had built fifty wooden huts to accommodate ten thousand men. The sick lay on grass mats on wooden platforms.

Coates saved more POW's lives than any of the other doctors in the prison camps, through his use of improvised techniques and amputations. Many more were saved by his leadership, encouragement and example. To the brutalized POW's he was simply known as Bertie.

Albert Coates reflected that his greatest work was done in the appalling conditions of the Prisoner-of War camps on the Thai-Burma Railway.

Coates: The Post War Years

After his release from the prison camps of Thailand during World War 2 Albert Coates reported for duty as senior surgeon for in-patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital although 32 kg below his normal weight. He faced a backlog of 2,000 patients.

He was a delegate for the R.S.L at the Japanese Peace Talks and in 1946 he gave evidence at the War Crimes Tribunal in Tokyo. In 1951 he went to San Francisco as an observer at the signing of the Peace Treaty with Japan. He was a forgiving and compassionate man who was associated with the expression 'don't scratch the wounds, let them heal.' He was criticized for his soft post war attitude to Japan, but he never departed from his stand on the issue.

His clinical lectures and bedside teaching have been described as compelling.

He became a member of the Fairfield Hospital Board of Management and in later years a new wing of the hospital was named after him.

Coates fought for the adequate recognition of nurses, helping establish award wages and conditions.

Coates was involved in many community organisations and committees. He was active in Rotary International.

Chronology

  • 1895

    Born - Mount Pleasant, Ballarat. Eldest son of Arthur & Clara Coates. Primary education at Mount Pleasant State School.
  • 1906

    Obtained Merit Certificate. Apprentice to a butcher (briefly) and as a book binder at the Ballarat Litho & Printing Company. Attended Leslie Morshead's night school. Participated in compulsory National Service Training.
  • 1913

    Sat for Junior Public Examination achieving five distinctions, qualifying for matriculation and University entrance. Relinquished apprenticeship and obtained a position in the Postal Department to finance proposed medical course. Sat for Federal Public Service Examination - Placed sixth in State.
  • 1914

    Enlisted (no 23) in 7th Battalion1st AIF as ambulance officer. Sailed first convoy.
  • 1915

    Field ambulance in Egypt, at Gallipoli. Amongst second last group to evacuate.

  • 1916-18

    France - Flanders and Somme. Interpreter in Australian Intelligence Corps. Arrived home for Christmas.

  • 1919

    Lieutenant - Interpreter in Australian Censor's Office.

  • 1919-24

    Melbourne University Medical School - 1st Class Honour Anatomy, Exhibition in Pathology. Final MMBS - 1st Class Honours in all subjects.

  • 1924

    Registered as Doctor 1st May. Resident Medical Officer, Melbourne Hospital.

  • 1925

    Appointed Stewart Lecturer in Anatomy, Melbourne University Medical School. Appointed Captain, Australian Medical Corps, Citizens Military Forces.

  • 1926-28

    Acting Professor & Lecturer in Anatomy, Melbourne University Medical School.

  • 1926

    MS (Melbourne). Lecturer in Anatomy - National Gallery Art School.

  • 1926

    MS (Melbourne). Honorary Surgeon to Out-Patients, Melbourne Hospital. Research into the Nervous System. Appointed Convenor, Committee to direct work of Psychiatric Clinics, University of Melbourne. Commenced Consultant practice at 61 Collins Street, Melbourne. As Captain, CMF AAMC - Aide to DDMS Victoria (Colonel R Downs).

  • 1927

    Fellow Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

  • 1931

    Foundation Member - Medico Legal Society.

  • 1934

    Studied Neurosurgery in England, Europe and USA.

  • 1934-47

    Member - Dental Board of Victoria.

  • 1935

    Honorary Surgeon to In-Patients & Neurosurgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital.

  • 1935-39

    Lecturer in Surgical Anatomy, University of Melbourne Medical School.

  • 1935-53

    President - Mitcham Choral Society (now The Melbourne Singers).

  • 1935-40

    Convenor, Science Subcommittee, Council of British Medical Assoc. Vic. Branch.

  • 1936-48

    Member of Council of British Medical Association, Victorian Branch.

  • 1939

    Enlists for WW2, not allowed due to senior hospital position.

  • 1940

    Foundation Member - Society of Australasian Neurological Surgeons (later the Neurological Society of Australasia). Vice-President (Medical) - Medico Legal Society.

  • 1941

    President - British Medical Association, Victorian Branch. Enlists. Appointed Senior Surgeon Lt. Col, 10th AGH, 8th Division AIF, Malacca. Acted as an External Examiner in Surgery for Singapore Medical School. Appointed Consultant Surgeon to Malaya Command. November- Returned to Melbourne attending seriously ill Sir John Latham. Leave curtailed when recalled to Malacca as hostilities commencing.

  • 1942

    February. Ordered to depart Singapore, ship sunk by bombing, ashore on Sumatra. Elected to remain with service and civilian wounded. Taken prisoner of war, sent to Burma.

  • 1942-44

    Chief Medical Officer and Surgeon, at several POW camps, Burma-Thailand Railway.

  • 1942-45

    Chief Medical Officer & Surgeon, finally camp Commandant, POW Hospital (8,000+ patients), Nakompaton.

  • 1945

    October. Returned to Australia and home.

  • 1945

    Honorary Surgeon to In-Patients, Royal Melbourne Hospital.

  • 1945-71

    Medical Officer to the Country Fire Authority.

  • 1946

    Mentioned in Dispatches.
    Order of British Empire.
    Principal Medical Witness for Allies at Major War Crimes Trials, Tokyo.
    Delivers the 13th Sir Richard Stawell Oration.
    Visiting Medical Officer, member Surgical Board, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital

  • 1947

    President, British Medical Association, Victorian Branch.

  • 1948

    Foundation & Council Member, War Nurses Memorial Centre, Melbourne.

  • 1949

    Appointed to Board of Management, Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital.

  • 1949-56

    Stewart Lecturer in Surgery, University of Melbourne Medical School.

  • 1950

    Delegate to International Red Cross, Monte Carlo.
    Extends travel to UK, Europe and USA to study medical education.
    Was intimately involved in appointments of the first Professors of Medicine & Surgery, University of Melbourne.

  • 1951

    RSL/Australian Government Delegate to Japanese Peace Treaty, San Francisco.

  • 1952

    Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons (England) - by election.

  • 1953

    Member of Council, University of Melbourne

  • 1953-58

    Member, National Council of Australian Red Cross.

  • 1954-69

    Medical Advisor to the International Harvester Company.

  • 1954-55

    President, Rotary Club of Melbourne.

  • 1955

    Knight Bachelor.

  • 1955-61

    President, War Nurses Memorial Centre, Melbourne. Chairman, Edith Cavell Memorial Trust. External Examiner, College of Nursing, Melbourne.

  • 1956

    Member - Melbourne Olympic Games Medical Committee.

  • 1956

    Delivers the 11th Triennial Syme Memorial Oration.

  • 1956-76

    Chairman - Board of Management, Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital.
    Continues as member of Board of Management until 1977.

  • 1957

    Delivers the 11th Triennial Syme Memorial Oration.

  • 1961

    Delivers the 4th Rupert Downes Memorial Lecture.

  • 1962

    Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), Melbourne University Centenary.
    Consulting Surgeon to - Repatriation Department and Royal Women’s' Hospital. Commonwealth Government nominee on Central Medical Advisory Committee- Repatriation.

  • 1963

    Opening of the 'Albert Coates Block', Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital.

  • 1964

    Foundation Fellow, Australian Medical Foundation.

  • 1965

    Delivers the 7th Chapman Oration to the Institute of Engineers, Melbourne.

  • 1968-70

    Member, Central and Victorian Advisory Committee on Repatriation.
    Member, Victorian Medical Advisory Committee (Hospitals & Charities Commission).

  • 1968

    Elected unanimously, 'Knight of Mark Twain' - American International Mark Twain Society.

  • 1970-72

    Nominee of the Metropolitan Hospitals Association on the Senior Medical Officers Wages Board

  • 1976

    Appointed an Honorary Member, American International Mark Twain Society (250 members) - (succeeding the late Sir Alexander Fleming).

  • 1977

    October - died in Melbourne.  One week later 'The Albert Coates Story - The Will that found the Way' (biography/autobiography) was published in Melbourne.

  • 1995

    "The Volunteer" - Albert's 1st World War Diaries and Letters home published by several family members.

  • 1998

    The Albert Coates Memorial Trust established in Ballarat.

  • 2000

    May.  Sir Albert Coates honoured in his birthplace with a Statue and Memorial in Sturt St., Ballarat.

  • 2001

    Inaugural Sir Albert Coates Award for Graduate Diploma in Surgical Anatomy. Melbourne University Private/Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

  • 2003

    Mount Pleasant Primary School - Grade Six Student Prizes.

  • 2003

    Inaugural Albert Coates Award, School of Nursing, Federation University Australia, then University of Ballarat.

  • 2003

    Inaugural Sir Albert Coates Young Achiever Award, Rotary Club of Melbourne.

  • 2004

    Inaugural Jim Pryor Prize, School of Visual Arts, Federation University Australia, then University of Ballarat.

  • 2004

    Inaugural FMP Prize, School of Engineering, Federation University Australia, then University of Ballarat.

  • 2005

    Inaugural Sir Albert Coates Secondary College Prize.
  • 2006

    Central Staff/Student building, Mt. Helen Campus, Federation University Australia, then University of Ballarat, named the Albert Coates Complex.
  • 2008

    The inaugural Regional Emergency Nursing Scholarship Awards announced. Sponsored with the support of the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women.
  • 2022

    The inaugural Leckie Family Special Care Nursing scholarship commenced at Grampians Health Services [Ballarat Base Hospital].
  • 2024

    The inaugural Victoria University Albert Coates Paramedicine Scholarship