Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

WILLIS Richard John AM MB BS FANZCA

1944 –

Richard John Willis was born in Mount Gambier in South Australia on the 9th of April 1944.  He is the third son of Jack Rupert Law Willis, a general medical practitioner, and the only son of Zelma May, nee Mackie a registered nurse.  His father had served in the Royal Navy in WW1, as a Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander, who, following the war, returned to Australia and practised as a general practitioner, initially in Learmonth, and subsequently in Mt Gambier where he lived for the majority of his life.  He had two sons, James and Alan, half-brothers to Willis, who both attended Naval College in Australia and had spectacular careers in the RAN, both reaching the rank of Admiral and Guido James becoming Chief of Naval staff.  Jack’s first wife died at the age of 41 and he married Zelma in 1940.

Willis was educated at the Mount Gambier Primary and High schools and was Head Prefect in year eleven, He moved to Adelaide for his final year of school at Adelaide Boys High School. He studied medicine at the University of Adelaide commencing in 1961. Willis made two important decisions whilst at university. The first, and according to Willis the most important, was meeting a young nurse, Gretta Joan Partridge who became his wife, and the mother of their four children.  The second was to join the RAN in the medical undergraduate scheme that supported him during his medical studies. With this came a commitment to four years of fulltime naval service on completion of his medical degree from Jan 1968 to Dec 1971.  His father had wanted him to join the navy and his mother had wanted him to study medicine, so Willis reflected, that as he pursued both career pathways he satisfied and disappointed both parents! He graduated with MB BS during 1967, the same year that he completed his resident year.

Following an introductory course at HMAS Cerberus, Willis’ first posting was to the Naval Hospital at HMAS Penguin at Middle Head, Sydney.  This was followed by a sea-going posting on HMAS Duchess.  This period included a lengthy goodwill tour of duty to several South East Asian countries.  The next posting, in 1969, was to HMAS Nirimba, the RAN training establishment which was located at the former RAAF Station at Schofields, Western Sydney.  His final posting, in early 1971, was to HMAS Sydney as the senior medical officer with the rank of surgeon Lieutenant-Commander and was by far the busiest in his short naval career. HMAS Sydney was a converted aircraft carrier which had seen action in the Korean War, and was recommissioned as a troop carrier to ferry troops and equipment to and from Australia in support of the land forces in the Vietnam War. HMAS Sydney became affectionately known as the Vung Tau Ferry.  During 1971 he made several trips from various Australian ports to Vung Tau Harbour in South Vietnam.  The conflict wound down later in 1971, and large numbers of troops were brought back to Australia on the Sydney.  From the medical aspect there were a variety of challenges during this period. The most notable was a major outbreak of Shigella dysentery that spread to the resident battalion and ship’s company. The medical treatment was complicated by a shortage of antibiotics and the very real risk of quarantine on arrival in Sydney from Vung Tau.  Having been away from home for twelve months, many of the soldiers threatened to swim ashore from the ship which was anchored outside Sydney Heads. Fortunately the authorities accepted the problem and allowed the personnel to go ashore subject to some safety requirements. On another trip, some of the soldiers picked up some nasty infections on the wharf at Fremantle. These required urgent management prior to meeting family members on arrival in Sydney three days later. Willis completed his four year Commission in December 1971. He remembers those years fondly, with many exciting and challenging experiences, not readily available to his civilian medical colleagues.  A major on-going social issue was the disruption of family life that is common with defence personnel away on active service.  It was not until several years later that he realised the full worth of his naval experiences and the subsequent impact on his attitudes and personal values. He was issued the Australian Active Service Medal 1945-75 with Clasp ‘VIETNAM’, the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal, the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 with Clasp ‘FESR’ and the Australian Defence Medal.

After leaving the Navy, Willis accepted an offer of a training position in specialist anaesthesia, in Auckland, and moved to New Zealand with Gretta and their 18 month-old son, Sam.  Prior to leaving Australia, he had been offered a position in the RAN Reserve. He accepted, but was unaware that a leave of absence had to be approved if he was away from Australia. Willis and his family had already been in New Zealand for ten months when he received a letter from Naval Board advising him that he had been discharged. Although he was disappointed, he accepted the decision and spent two rewarding years developing his career in specialist anaesthesia and having plenty of family time that included the birth of his second son, Luke.  After returning to Adelaide, Willis completed his anaesthesia training and increased his family with twins, Carl and Gemma.  Willis filled the first senior anaesthesia registrar position at the new Flinders Medical Centre (FMC), in 1976. He had the privilege of being involved with the implementation and opening of the FMC and assisted with its first anaesthetic.  This period was followed by two years in the USA as a specialist anaesthesiologist at the hospitals affiliated with the University of Washington, Faculty of Medicine, in Seattle. This included a considerable commitment to the main trauma centre in the Pacific North West of the USA.  The clinical experience was first class but equally good was the experience of living for two years in one of the most beautiful regions of the United States.  The family moved back to Adelaide and Willis returned to a position at FMC, this time as a fulltime specialist anaesthetist.  Willis moved to the RAH as Director of Anaesthesia, in 1991,   and then, in 2006, was invited to fill the vacant position of Director of Anaesthesia at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. While initially reluctant to accept this position, Willis now regards that three year period as possibly the most rewarding of his career. Throughout his career in the public hospital arena, Willis worked in clinical anaesthesia but also developed an interest in the broader aspects of the profession of medicine, and particularly anaesthesia, in education, training, administration and the professional bodies that underpin the profession and establish standards of practice.  This culminated in him being elected President of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists for two years in 2002.  After ceasing clinical practice in 2010, he took a major interest in the policy development, management and assessment of overseas trained specialist anaesthetist. He was appointed a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours, in January 2015, for services to the profession of anaesthesia.

Richard John Willis and his family have derived great pleasure from back-packing and camping in wild and remote areas of Australia, NZ and Nepal.  In retirement, he and Gretta continue to pursue these activities.  Their four children are now married with children of their own, all of whom live in Adelaide.  Gardening, travelling and grand-parenting now fill most of their discretional time.

Source

Blood, Sweat and Fears II: Medical Practitioners of South Australia on Active Service After World War 2 to Vietnam 1945-1975.

Summers, Swain, Jelly, Verco

Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD