Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Stephen Hertford Weedon was born in Bald Hills, Queensland on 15 February 1887 to parents Stephen Henry Weedon and Mabel Frances Weedon (nee Carter).[i] He was the younger brother of Temple Carter and Elizabeth Grace, and older brother to John Francis Warren and Josephine Mabel Weedon.[ii] He grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, and was educated at Sydney Grammar School.[iii] He studied a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, and was a resident at St Paul’s College.[iv]

On 8 July 1916, Stephen enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) as a Captain.[v] He was 29 years old, and had previously served four years as a Captain in the Militia.[vi] Stephen embarked from Sydney aboard the HMAT Borda on 17 October 1916, arriving in Plymouth, England on 9 January 1917. He joined the AAMC Training Depot, later moving to the 4th Training Battalion camp in Codford.[vii] On 12 April 1917, Stephen proceeded overseas to France,[viii] but was soon returned to England, being admitted to 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth with ‘sickness’ on 16 April.[ix] The sickness was later revealed to be appendicitis, which required an operation.[x] Stephen was discharged on 11 June 1917 after almost two months in hospital.[xi]

Stephen’s first taste of active duty was with the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Harefield. He only spent a week there before returning to France on 19 October 1917, joining the 2nd Australian General Hospital in Wimereux. His main duties were as an x-ray specialist and pathologist.[xii] On 8 October 1917, Stephen took leave in Paris before returning to the hospital on 13 October.[xiii] Around this time, he was appointed as an operating surgeon.[xiv] With heavy Allied casualties in France during October 1917 and the German Spring Offensive in early 1918, surgeons like Stephen were forced to work extremely lengthy shifts. Stephen recalled working from 11am until midnight most days without a break.[xv] Frequent leave was crucial for the sanity of the medical practitioners, and Stephen was granted two weeks in September 1918.[xvi] He spent the time in England before returning to Wimereux. Upon his return, he was promoted to Major,[xvii] having already been made a head surgeon in January.[xviii]

Life in the 2nd Australian General Hospital during Stephen’s tenure was difficult. As many as 600 casualties could be admitted in a single night, and bombings were frequent.[xix] One night, the hospital was bombed eleven times, resulting in the deaths of several nurses.[xx] In a letter dated 24 May 1918, Stephen spoke with great pride of the bravery of the Australian soldiers, noting that his countrymen made for the most compliant and tough patients.[xxi]

Stephen’s war did not end when the armistice was called. He was admitted to the 5th Auxiliary Hospital in England on 13 November 1918 with another undetermined illness.[xxii] It soon became apparent that Stephen, like so many others, had contracted the Spanish Flu.[xxiii] By Christmas Day 1918, Stephen had recovered enough to be sent home, embarking for Melbourne on the HMAT Takada.[xxiv]

Stephen finally arrived home in Sydney on 16 February 1919.[xxv] He was admitted to the Randwick Hospital on precautionary measures. On 5 July 1919, his appointment with the AIF was officially terminated.[xxvi]

Stephen went on to study a Master of Surgery at the University of Sydney.[xxvii] In 1934, he married Phyllis Braggs at the Christ Church in Cootamundra.[xxviii] Phyllis moved to Wagga Wagga with Stephen, where he had established the Welwyn Private Hospital on Simmons Street with his partner Dr Wallace Martin.[xxix] The hospital was sold to the Department of Main Roads in 1946.[xxx] On 31 October 1938, Stephen and Phyllis gave birth to their daughter Roslyn.[xxxi] They had two other children together, Elisabeth Ann and David Hertford Weedon.

Dr Stephen Hertford Weedon died on 27 April 1965 in Double Bay, New South Wales at the age of 78.[xxxii]

[i] Geni 2022, ‘Dr. Maj. Stephen Hertford (Weary) Weedon, MBCh, MFRACS, AAMC, AIF’, Geni.com, viewed 24 October 2022, available at:  <https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-Maj-Stephen-Weedon-MBCh-MFRACS-AAMC-AIF/6000000000024072128>.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 1.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ibid, p. 25.
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] Ibid, p. 14.
[x] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.
[xi] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 20.
[xii] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.
[xiii] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 25.
[xiv] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 25.
[xvii] Ibid.
[xviii] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.
[xix] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.

[xix] Ibid.
[xx] Ibid.
[xxi] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1918, ‘Personal’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 11 July, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: < https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/141956848>.
[xxii] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 25.
[xxiii] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.
[xxiv] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 25.
[xxv] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1919, ‘Returned to Wagga – Surgeon Major Weedon’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 3 April, p. 2, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142099288>.
[xxvi] Stephen Hertford Weedon, NAA Service Record, p. 25.
[xxvii] Geni 2022, ‘Dr. Maj. Stephen Hertford (Weary) Weedon, MBCh, MFRACS, AAMC, AIF’, Geni.com, viewed 24 October 2022, available at:  <https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-Maj-Stephen-Weedon-MBCh-MFRACS-AAMC-AIF/6000000000024072128>.
[xxviii] Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser 1934, ‘Personal’, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser, 1 September, p. 5, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/143620921?searchTerm=%22Stephen%20Hertford%20Weedon%22>.
[xxix] The Daily Advertiser 2016, ‘Looking back 50 and 25 years | In the Past’, The Daily Advertiser, 21 January, viewed 24 October 2022, available at: <https://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/3647921/in-the-past-past-president-banned-from-club/>.
[xxx] Ibid.
[xxxi] Geni 2022, ‘Dr. Maj. Stephen Hertford (Weary) Weedon, MBCh, MFRACS, AAMC, AIF’, Geni.com, viewed 24 October 2022, available at:  <https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-Maj-Stephen-Weedon-MBCh-MFRACS-AAMC-AIF/6000000000024072128>.
[xxxii] Ibid.