Major General Neville Reginald Howse

VC [26 OCTOBER 1863 -19 SEPTEMBER 1930]

TH TH

Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse VC, KCB,

KCMG, though British-born, was the first soldier of
the Australian services to be awarded the Victoria
Cross. He later served in the Australian Federal
Government as Minister of Defence and several
other portfolios.
Born in Stogursey, Somerset, England on 26 October
1863, the second surviving son of Alfred Howse, a
surgeon. He was educated at Fullard's House
School Taunton Somerset, a school of which there
appear to be few records!, and studied medicine
and surgery at the London Hospital, passing his
Residential Surgical Certificate on 17 April 1884
and becoming a Member of the Royal College of
Surgeons (MRCS) in 1886. In 1887 he became a
licentiate of the Royal College of Practitioners
(LCRP). (All three of his brothers also became
doctors.)
He migrated to New South Wales largely for health
reasons1, and established his first practice in
Newcastle, and then became a country doctor at the Manning River Hospital in Taree.
He returned to England in 1896 for
professional development and
postgraduate work, working in what
would now be called Casualty at
London Hospital while studying to
become a Fellow of the Royal College
of Surgeons (FRCS), to which he was
admitted in 1897. He returned to
Taree in 1898 but moved to Orange
in 1899 buying Dr Van Someren’s
medical practice.
In January 1900 Howse was
commissioned as a lieutenant having
volunteered to serve in the New
South Wales Medical Corps as
Surgeon-Lieutenant to the NSW
Lancers and sailed for South Africa
to serve in the Second Boer War with
the Second Contingent of Australian Forces.2
By July 1900 the Imperial High Command were so concerned about the activities of a
wily Boer commander General Christiaan de Wet3, a former businessman who had

1
In 1888 he worked as an assistant demonstrator in anatomy at Durham University but resigned a year later due to ill health.
He migrated to Australia in1889 in the hope that the warmer climate would aid his 'weak lungs.'
2
The Second Contingent of the New South Wales Medical Corps embarked from Sydney on 17 January 1900 in SS Moravian.
They disembarked at East London, Eastern Cape,South Africa on 22 February
3
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (1854 – 1922) His offensive in March and April 1900 heralded the Boer revival, he attacked south-
eastwards, in the guerrilla style for which he was to become legendary. He was never captured by the British and for a large
part of 1900 tied down 50,00 Imperial troops in his pursuit. When the Orange River was granted self-Government in 1907
De Wet was elected the member for Vredefort and became Minister of Agriculture.

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perfected guerrilla warfare, and was fast becoming a folk hero to the Dutch of the Cape,
that it sent a mounted infantry brigade (4th) under Brigadier-General C P Ridley4 to
neutralise De Wet and his band. Attached to Ridley's force were members of the New
South Wales Army Medical Corps, led by Neville Howse.
On July 22 1900 Ridley heard that De Wet had derailed and looted a train at Rhenoster
Poort, and moved some 15 kilometres towards Vredefort in the Orange Free State.

General Ridley immediately sent part of his force to investigate, accompanied by a

section of the Medical Corps, under Capt. Howse. De Wet’s force opened fire with deadly
effect as the Imperial troops rode into range on the 24th. Among the first to fall in the
forward line was a young trumpeter5,
who having risen to sound the “retreat”
was shot through the bladder and lay
bleeding severely as his comrades
retired. Lieutenant Howse dug his spurs
into his horse, charging without
hesitation through a hail of bullets to
the wounded man, his horse was soon
shot dead from under him, but Howse
grabbed his medical bag and ran
forward and on reaching the trumpeter,
dressed his wound while bullets flew
round him. He then lifted the lad onto
his shoulders and carried him to safety.
For this action Howse was awarded the
Victoria Cross - the first ever awarded
to a member of the Australian armed
forces, and the only one ever awarded
to an Australian medical officer,6 the
original citation reads:
New South Wales Medical Staff Corps, Captain N. R. House [sic]
During the action at Vredefort on the 24 July 1900, Captain House went out under a
heavy cross fire and picked up a wounded man, and carried him to a place of shelter.
By the end of September 1900, although the Boers continued a Guerrilla campaign, the
British believed they had the Boer uprising contained, and the war could be reduced to a

4
Charles Parker Ridley CB (1854-1937).was commissioned in the 96th Regt [Aug 1873]. Becoming Lt Col & CO of the 2nd Bttn
Manchester Regt Jul ’95. During the Boer War of 1899-1902 he was CO 2nd and the 4th Mounted Infantry Brigades, and served
with Hon. rank of Brig Gen with the South African Constabulary (he held confirmed rank of Colonel [28th Jul ’99]). Later he was
CO 63rd Regt District (the Manchester Regt recruiting area 1903-1907). Charles retired in June 1908 but returned to the Army in
1914 as a (Temp) Brig Gen and Brigade Commander as part of the Adjutant-General's & General's Staff until July 1915..
5
Trumpets and Bugles are technically different “trumpeter”
6
Interestingly Howse (nor the detail of the Vredefort skirmish) is not mentioned in Vol 6 of Louis Creswicke’s “South Africa
and the Transvaal War”, however the book was published in 1901 and Howse’s VC award was not gazetted until 4th June
1901. Howse’s award is included in Vol7 (pub: 1902) but with the same spelling error as the Gazette , and with no narrative
of the event. Louis Creswicke was a contemporary of Conan Doyle and popular author & Journalist of the time. Conan
Doyle’s book “The Great Boer War” (Pub 1900) similarly omits the Howse incident. The British (and these two “historians”)
thought the war over by Sept 1900 but it was to erupt again within a year.

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policing action. Thus the numbers of troops in South Africa were drawn down. By
November 1900 the tour of duty of the Second NSW Contingent was complete and they
were shipped home to Australia via Cape Town. Howse had been promoted to Captain
on 15th October, but did not return directly to Australia, being detoured via the UK. 7
It was not until the 4th December 1901 that Howse was presented with his medal in a
ceremony at Victoria Barracks, Sydney by the Chief Justice of New South Wales, Sir
Frederick Darley. Howse shook hands with Captain A. Heathcote and Sergeant J. Paton,
who were present at the ceremony and who had been awarded the VCs for their actions
during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 prior to their migration to New South Wales.
Throughout 1901 the war in South Africa continued to smoulder, and led to harsh
tactics8 by Kitchener who was now in charge. The new Federal Government of Australia
sent "Commonwealth" contingents to the war.
In early 1902 Howse volunteered again for service in South Africa departing on 12th
February, now as an honorary Major, in charge of a stretcher bearer company serving in
Natal, Orange River Colony and Western Transvaal attached to Colonel A. W.
Thornycroft's Mounted Infantry Column, being mentioned in dispatches for his service.
At the conclusion of the war he became seriously ill and on 6th July 1902 was again
invalided to Britain.
He returned to his practice in Orange on 7th November 1902. Where in 1905 he married
Evelyn Pilcher.
He was twice elected to serve as mayor of the City of Orange, and was mayor of the town
when World War 1 broke out in 1914 and was one of the first to volunteer for service,
even though by that time he was 50!
He was appointed principal medical officer to the somewhat forgotten Australian Naval
and Military Expeditionary Force to German New Guinea, (Now Papua New Guinea) with the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
However the unit had to manage the first Australian Forces Casualties of WW19; with the
loss of 7 killed and treatment of the 5 wounded10 at the skirmish at Bita Pika on 11th
September 1914. Howse’s medical knowledge and logistical skills ensured that there
were no cases of serious illness on the campaign. Howse had procured quinine on his
own initiative and arranged for a daily issue.
Howse, and many of the 2000 or so expeditionaries, returned to Australia on 4 October
1914. in time to join the first AIF contingent.

7
The documents at my disposal are confusing on Howe’s departure from South Africa, newspaper reports indicate he
departed Cape Town late (28th ?) November as an invalid bound for London. His name does not appear in the reports of
returning members of the NSW Medical unit on either their assigned transports the S.S. Harlech Castle and S.S. Orient [left
Cape Town on the 22nd Dec ’00]. The Harlech Castle had sailed by the 5th Nov ’00 with most of the unit, arriving of Albany on 28th
Nov ’00, and after disembarking some S. Aust Troops at Adelaide (1st Dec) continued to Melbourne from where the NSW
Medical unit travelled by by special train (5th Dec) to Sydney. (The ship continued to Hobart [Dec 7th] and arrived to unloaded equipment
etc. in Sydney 8th Dec). It appears that Howse returned to Sydney from London [10th Jan ’01] aboard the RMS Oceana on 22nd Feb
1901, and was welcomed back to Orange 27th Feb 1901, and by 5th Mar had resumed his role as a Medical Officer at the
Orange Hospital.
8
Kitchener introduced a scorched earth policy to deny the Boers supplies, and developed concentration camps for Boer
families to deny them succour and intelligence. Captured Boers were sent overseas (e.g. Saint Helena, Ceylon, Bermuda and India.)
9
An Australian 22-year-old Lieutenant Malcolm Chisholm had been wounded by shrapnel on the 26th August 1914 and died
the following day while serving as an Officer in the East Lancashire Regiment during the Battle of Le Cateau.
Chisholm was a student of Sydney Grammar School, then moving to England and completing officer training at Sandhurst..
10
Able S William “Billy” Williams, was the first Australian serviceman to be killed in action in WWI. The happy-go-lucky 28-
MN

year-old from Melbourne had been a naval reservist since 1909, and was only days away from completing his five-year term
of service when called-up in late July 1914. Williams was wounded in the stomach shortly before 8 a.m. in the Bita Pika
encounter (11th Sept 1914), he was carried to the aid post by Stoker Bill Kember. The aid post MO Capt Brian Pockley realising
surgery was urgently needed ordered Kember and another sailor to evacuate Williams to the troopship, HMAS Berrima.
Fatefully Pockley gave Kember his Red Cross Brassard fearing an ambush en-route. Pockley had earlier amputated the hand
of a German, Sgt Maj Maunderer, who had surrendered after being wounded, and continued to attend to the wounded of both
sides as they advanced – he was minutes later hit by a rifle round in the abdomen, and evacuated to HMAS Berrima. Pockley
and Williams both died that afternoon. Pockley was Mentioned in Despatches for his actions. From the correspondence it is
clear that Col Howse knew Capt Pockley well.

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Howse sailed on the Orvieto with other members of the 1st Division Headquarters staff
on 21st October 1914, and was appointed as a full Colonel and Assistant Director of
Medical Services 1st Australian Division on 28th December 1914
On 25th April 1915 Howse landed at Hell Spit with the rest of 1st Division HQ at around
7:30 am. Already the complete bungling of medical and administrative arrangements
were becoming evident. Triage broke down and seriously wounded men were put on
board transports with no more than skeleton medical facilities while lightly wounded
men were given beds on board hospital ships. The beach was jammed with wounded
men and eventually Howse determined to evacuate the lot, sending off 1,200 men in two
days.
"Shells and bullets he completely disregarded", wrote one officer, but "to the wounded
he was gentleness itself."
Many AIF senior officers took needless risks, including Howse, ignoring shelling and
sniper fire. On 15th May 1915, Major General W. T. Bridges was mortally wounded by a
sniper in Monash Valley. Howse personally brought him on board the hospital ship
Gascon on 18th May 1915. After Bridges died, Howse accompanied his body to Egypt,
staying for a few days in an attempt to sort out administrative matters.
On his return to Anzac on 23rd May 1915, the most pressing medical matter was the
disposal of the bodies of the thousands of Turks killed in the Turkish counterattack of
19th May 1915, during a truce on 24th May 1915 Howse helped supervise the disposal of
the dead.
For his work, Howse was appointed a Companion of the Bath (CB) in the July 1915 King's
Birthday Honours.
Howse became aware of the dangers of poor sanitation at Anzac, and detached part of
the 3rd Field Ambulance for sanitation work. But despite his efforts he too became ill
with dysentery and was evacuated to Egypt not returning until the 22nd July, just in
time for the attack on Lone Pine on 7th August 1915. Howse worked 12 hours straight,
dealing with some 700 wounded. The next day he was himself lightly wounded in the
shoulder.
On 11 September 1915, Howse became acting
DDMS of ANZAC. The Director General of
Medical Services, Colonel R. H. Fetherston, toured
Egypt and Anzac and was appalled at the
situation, he recommended that Howse be
appointed as DMS AIF, and Howse officially took
over the position on 22nd November 1915 with the
rank of Surgeon-General.
Howse returned to Egypt on 28th December 1915
following the evacuation of Anzac , he was
Mentioned in Despatches for his service in this
campaign. With the expansion of the AIF in early
1916, Howse had to create new medical staffs for
three new divisions, and reorganised the Dental
Corps in Egypt, his New Guinea and Gallipoli
experiences had convinced him of the value of
dentists.
However Howse, as a doctor, was reluctant to
accept dentists as equals, and more reluctant still
when it came to dealing with pharmacists, nurses
and physiotherapists. Howse could be
misogynistic. He refused to give Dr Janet Greig a
commission in the AIF and was uncomfortable
about the fact that he had over 1200 nurses
under his command a far higher percentage of nurses than their British counterparts.
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When the Australian Imperial Force moved to France, Howse took up a position in
London moving his medical staff to the AIF Headquarters at Horseferry Road in London
in April 1916 administering the medical services of the whole AIF, in Egypt, Salonika,
and primary focus of the Western Front making regular visits to France.
Howse's was always generous with promotions, taking the view that his doctors and
nurses had given up a great deal to serve with the AIF. But British authorities seeking to
divert Australian medical staff to British hospitals could expect nothing but the most
hostile response from Howse! In January 1917, Howse himself was promoted, to major
general and appointed a Knight Companion of the Bath (KCB).
In 1917 at the Dardanelles commission, he described the arrangements for dealing with
wounded men at Gallipoli as inadequate to the point of 'criminal negligence'.
He consistently endeavoured to maintain the physical standards of the AIF and late in
the war attributed its success in part to the efforts he and his staff made in ensuring the
physical and moral fitness of Australian front-line soldiers.
When the German Offensive broke on March 1918, Howse reinforced the medical
establishment in France experimenting with small, cellular surgical teams, each
consisting of a surgeon, an anaesthetist, a theatre sister and two orderlies. These were
attached to the three Australian general hospitals but available for use by British
hospitals.
In September 1918, Prime Minister Hughes granted six months leave in Australia to all
members of the AIF who had served continuously since 1914. Howse was one such, and
returned to Australia arriving in Sydney on 11th November 1918. But he returned to
England on 24th February 1919 to take charge of the repatriation of the sick and wounded.
He also arranged with the British authorities for his doctors and nurses to take up what for
many was the opportunity of a lifetime; free postgraduate study in British universities and
hospitals. Howse was gazetted a Knight of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ) on 3rd June 1919 and
Knight Commander of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 9th June.
He finally returned to Australia on 1st January 1920 making a brief return to private
practice before resuming work with the army.
In January 1921, Howse chaired a committee on the future organisation of the Army Medical
Services. He was appointed part time Director General of Medical Services (DGMS) in July
1921 with the rank of major general but retired on 7 th November 1922 to contest the Federal
seat of Calare, which includes Orange, as a Nationalist candidate. He won, and was duly
reappointed DGMS, serving until January 1925.
He was a delegate to the fourth assembly of the League of Nations in 1923. During his
time in parliament Howse held several portfolios: from January 1925 to April 1927
Howse was Minister for Defence and Health and Minister in charge of Repatriation. In
February 1928 he again became Minister for Health and Repatriation and also for Home
and Territories.
As Minister for Health, Howse strove to improve the treatment of cancer and veneral disease.
He purchased £100,000 of radium for medical purposes, establishing one of the first radium
banks in the world. He assisted in the creation of the Australian College of Surgeons and the
Institute of Anatomy.
As Minister for Repatriation, Howse championed the cause of ex-servicemen, particularly
disabled ones, and was involved in setting up the Australian War Memorial.
As Minister for Defence, he attempted unsuccessfully to amalgamate the medical services of
the three services.
As Minister for Territories, Howse was an advocate of the White Australia Policy. He also
pushed the development of the new capital in Canberra.
In October 1929, Howse lost his seat in the Labor landslide against Prime Minister Bruce. On
deciding to return to medical practice, he returned to England for a few months to refresh
his surgical skills. While there he was diagnosed with gallstones. An operation revealed
pancreatic cancer. Howse, a smoker, always maintained that smoking was good for the
health! He died on 19th September 1930 and was buried at London's Kensal Green Cemetery,
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next to his father. He was survived by his wife Evelyn, two sons and three daughters. His
son, John Howse, was member for Calare from 1946 to 1960.
Neville Howse was a legend in the Australian medical fraternity. Dr F A Maguire wrote of
his service in war and in peace:
As a soldier, General Howse was the embodiment of the spirit of service. He never
spared himself any exertion to carry out his duty. His first thoughts were always for
the health of the troops. That they should be housed as well as circumstances would
permit, and cared for in sanitation, food and clothing at the highest possible standard
was always his foremost thought. Throughout Australia there are hundreds of
medical men who bear most kindly memories of one whose personality radiated
geniality, who was ready to recognise merit, who was most kindly and approachable
by anyone who had need of advice, whose standard of duty and personal service was
of the highest, and who never asked anyone to do anything he was not prepared to
do himself or to go anywhere where he himself was not prepared to go.
As wartime Director of Medical Services, he was a sound and ambitious administrator,
but today Howse is best remembered as Australia's first Victoria Cross winner
commemorated in a statue by Peter Dornan depicting his act of bravery on display at the
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Melbourne. His portrait hangs in the Australian
War Memorial's Hall of Valour, where his medals are on display.
Sir Neville Howse has also been feted on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post in
2000, and on a one dollar coin issued by the Royal Australian Mint in 2000 designed by
Wojciech Pietranik for the centenary of Howse's action.
Bro. Neville Reginald Howse was initiated at Orange in Lodge Ophir No. 17, United Grand
Lodge of New South Wales on 29 August 1901. He was passed to the Second Degree on
16 January 1902 and raised a Master Mason on 9 April 1903.

Bro. Howse was elected Junior Warden in 1908 and was installed as Master of the lodge
on 28 October 1909.

W J Nash December 2020

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http://www.findmypast.com/articles/anzac-day-stories/resources-military-history-
articles/military-history-the-first-aif-man-to-die-whilst-serving
http://harrowercollection.com/pockleyb.html
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8019186
&S=1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bita_Paka
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/wwi-centenary-the-first-two-australians-to-
die-in-the-great-war-20140731-zz5im.html
http://www.theorangewiki.orange.nsw.gov.au/index.php?title=Sir_Neville_Howse_VC
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG0000391/ inter alia
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2012/D12285/a4895.htm
O'Meara, P., & Devenish, S. (2010). Sir Neville Howse (VC), Private John Simpson
Kirkpatrick and Private Martin O’Meara (VC) and their contributions to Australian
military medicine. Australasian Journal of Paramedicine, 8(1). Retrieved from
http://ro.ecu.edu.au/jephc/vol8/iss1/4
Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1899-1939, Vol 9, pp. 384-385;
Tyquin, Michael B., Neville Howse: Australia's First Victoria Cross Winner created by
Ross Mallett

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