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THATCHER Roger MB BS FACRRM  DRANZCOG     

1944-

Roger Thatcher was born on 19th January 1944, at home by a domiciliary midwife, in Suffolk. England. He was the eldest son of Ralph Thatcher and Mary Winifred, nee Sapford. He had an elder sister and a younger brother Alan, all born in England, and a younger sister Felicity, who was born in Australia.  His father was from London and trained in dentistry, but changed to medicine and specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology.  His father served in WW2, first as a civilian in the RAF and subsequently enlisted and served in Rhodesia with a RAF training unit. His mother was a midwife and worked in the East End of London during the 1930s doing antenatal care and home deliveries with a bicycle as transport. The family immigrated to Australia, in 1949, and first settled in Woy Woy, NSW, where his father did locums, also on a bicycle, as the means of transport. They moved to Brisbane, in 1950, where his father gained a specialist obstetric position at the Brisbane Women’s Hospital. Thatcher went to the local State school in Brisbane which he enjoyed, but before he could commence at an Anglican grammar school commonly referred to Churchie College, in Brisbane, his father decided to move to Adelaide, in 1956, so he went to Scotch College. Thatcher reflects that he was not particularly academic, but enjoyed ‘Aussie rules’ football, tennis and building things, so his career choice to do medicine, he considered to be a little odd. He had been in the scouts and cadets during his school years followed by joining the CMF. This gave him the opportunity to study medicine through the Army Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme. He graduated MB BS in 1968 and completed his resident year at the RGH, at Daw Park.

He was taken into the regular army, after completion of his residency, for his return of service commitment.  He spent two weeks at camp in Deep Creek south of Adelaide then on to Puckapunyal in Victoria.  Here he undertook medical examinations of recruit national servicemen.  After three weeks he was sent to the Army School of Health at Healesville, Victoria, for officer training, despite previously completing a similar course in the CMF.  However, after three weeks he was transferred to Townsville in a posting to 2 RARNZ Bn and was told he had three days to drive there.  This caused Thatcher to muse that the Army always liked to do things in threes. He unfortunately fell asleep at the wheel before he even made it to Shepparton, Victoria, and spent the night in hospital at Puckapunyal, joining the Bn in Townsville a few days later, where he discovered he was bound for Vietnam. Thatcher spent most of his one year posting to Vietnam with 2 RAR/NZ Bn in Nui Dat, his CO was Lieutenant Colonel Church.  Although he did spend a short period of time with fire support ‘gunners’. The general routine was for companies go on patrol for three weeks, with the only contact with base was a supply helicopter run dropping mail and a change of clothing.  Thatcher went on some of the drops. When they reached the general area of the patrol the pilot would instruct him to throw smoke to pinpoint the drop to the patrol.  Occasionally they were side-tracked to check on an activated sensor by flying round and past the site as a prime target. His CO, Colonel Churcher, was shot in the buttock when on a similar mission. He recounts his great admiration for the Australian soldier whether ‘Regs’ or ‘Nashos’, they got on with the job whatever it was without complaint.

He describes how in one period of three weeks a company patrol suffered one fatality and twenty seven wounded which included the loss of seven legs and one arm. All injuries were from mines with no enemy being seen. Thatcher comments that no wonder many of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He attributes the low fatality rate in Vietnam to the first aid given by the medics and rapid evacuation by ‘dust off’ pilots, who flew with disregard for their own safety to pick up and transport wounded soldiers to 1 Aust FdHosp at Vung Tau. Thatcher’s service in Vietnam ended prematurely, ostensibly to fill an urgent position at Army Headquarters in Melbourne, but he believed it was to give a CMF doctor war experience. On return to Australia he had seven weeks leave before commencing the ‘urgent’ administrative work of reviewing medical boards for the discharge of medically unfit soldiers. During this time he coordinated a project to develop a reliable, liquid nitrogen powered, refrigerator to carry blood to the troops overseas. He was in this posting for 18 months and was posted to the Joint Service Medical Centre in Canberra. Thatcher was concerned about his declining medical skills due to his long period of administrative work and, despite the risk of disciplinary action, requested not to go to Canberra.  Fortunately Army office found another doctor returning from a posting in the United Kingdom to take up the Canberra posting and he was posted to 1 Military Hospital at Yeronga in Brisbane. Whilst here he enjoyed life at the officers mess and restoring the tennis court.  He returned to Adelaide in 1974 and was supported by the Army to retrain in his clinical skills at the RAH, thus ending his military career.  He was awarded Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975 (clasp Vietnam), the General Service Medal 1962 (clasp Vietnam), Australian Service Medal 1945-1975, and the National Medal.

Thatcher spent the rest of 1974 and 1975 gaining further clinical experience. First at the RGH for nine months, followed by six months of obstetrics and gynaecology at the QVMH. Finally six months at the ACH where he cared for children with gross hydrocephalus, which is now uncommon due to modern medical treatments. Later in 1976 he went to England to do medical locums to gain further experience.  The first was at Western-Super-Mare, on the Bristol Channel and then at Plymouth, in Devon.  Earlier in 1976 he became engaged to Helen Douglas, whom he had met at 1 Mil Hosp in Brisbane.  She had moved to Adelaide and was the night matron of the RAH.  They married on his return to Australia, in 1977, eventually settling in Waikerie in the Riverland of South Australia. There he joined a general practice with Dr Graham Hobbs and moved into a previous matron’s flat.  He and Graham Hobbs did the anaesthetics for visiting surgeons. They spent seven years in Waikerie and both their children, Christopher and Jillian were born during this time.

Thatcher, decided that he wanted to develop his obstetric skills especially his caesarean skills, so arranged for a position in Shrewsbury in England, in 1985. After selling up his house and practice in Waikerie and a short holiday in Greece they left for England. On completion of his experience in England the family returned to Australia with the intention of Thatcher settling back into a rural practice in South Australia. However, he eventually accepted an offer in a partnership in Temora NSW. His children completed their schooling in Temora, Christopher developing an interest in the arts and Jill joined the police force.  Thatcher and Helen separated, in 1999, and later divorced. He unfortunately was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the same time. He remained in Temora for 20 years and met and remarried another Helen in 2005. He and Helen eventually, after moving to several places in NSW, settled in Wagga Wagga NSW and he joined a locum service nine years ago.  Roger Thatcher, despite two more recurrences of his lymphoma, still enjoys working for Ochre Locums, plus other locum services around rural and remote Australia, in areas as far as apart as Ceduna in South Australia, Queenstown in Tasmania, Bourke in NSW, Charleville in Queensland Kununurra in Western Australia and a far north as Thursday Island.

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