CRABBE, Gavin Murray
| Service Number: | TX6071 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 August 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/10th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | North Adelaide, South Australia , 26 November 1901 |
| Home Town: | New Norfolk, Derwent Valley, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | St Peter's College, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Medical Practitioner |
| Died: | Tasmania, Australia, 14 November 1951, aged 49 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 11 Aug 1941: | Enlisted Hobart, TAS | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 1941: | Enlisted TX6071 | |
| 26 Sep 1946: | Discharged Captain, 2nd/10th Field Ambulance |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Annette Summers
CRABBE Gavin Murray MB BS
1901-1951
Gavin Murray Crabbe was born on 26th November 1901, in North Adelaide, SA. He was the son of Harold Sydney Waldron Crabbe and Maggie, nee Dawson. He was educated at St Peter’s College, SA, and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating MB BS in 1927. Crabbe married Dorothy Marion Harrington, on 24th October 1928, at St Cuthbert’s Church, Prospect, SA. She was the daughter of Howard Joseph Harrington and Letitia Marian, nee Boyle, of Prospect. They were to have two children, a son Donald and a daughter Margaret. Crabbe and his wife moved to Western Australia in the early 1930s and then to Tasmania, where he took a position at Lachlan Park Hospital, New Norfolk.
Crabbe had been serving in 12th FdAmb in the CMF when he enlisted in the 2/AIF on 11th August 1941. He enlisted in Hobart, Tasmania and named his wife as his next of kin. He initially was to have embarked on the Wanganella for the Middle East with 13 AGH but was transferred as an RMO to 2/10th FdAmb. This unit was deployed to Singapore and Crabbe was taken to Changi prison Singapore, as a prisoner of war, in February 1942. Crabbe was recovered from the Japanese prisoner of war camp, in Kuching, Borneo on 12th September 1945, where he had been the MO for the camp during his incarceration. He was evacuated to 2/5th AGH and embarked from Morotai on the Wanganella for Sydney on 26th September 1945. He was taken by the ambulance train and transferred to 111 AGH with malnutrition and anaemia on 18th October 1945. After rehabilitation, he was discharged on 26th December 1946.
Following the war, Crabbe returned to Tasmania and his position at the Lachlan Park Hospital, New Norfolk. He was the president of the Derwent Valley RSL Club. Crabbe became the senior medical officer, at the Lachlan Park Hospital, but his health had suffered from his time as a prisoner of war in Changi prison and in Kuching and he retired in February 1951. Gavin Murray Crabbe died on 14th November 1951. His wife and two children survived him.
Source
Blood, Sweat and Fears III: Medical Practitioners South Australia, who Served in World War 2.
Swain, Jelly, Verco, Summers. Open Books Howden, Adelaide 2019.
Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD
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