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FRAYNE John Felix MB BS

1914 - 1997

John Felix Frayne was born in Woodside, SA, on 10th February 1914. He was the only son of Dr Ernest John Frayne, a general practitioner, and Ada, nee Bishop. His sister, Elizabeth was to later marry Dr RH Formby. He was educated at Unley High School, and St Peter’s College before studying medicine at the University of Adelaide where he graduated MB BS in 1936. He was a resident medical officer at the RAH, before travelling to England to train in surgery at the Reading Hospital. As war was imminent, he returned to Adelaide, his travels took him through the Brenner Pass in 1939, to serve with the Australian forces.

Frayne joined the RAAF at the rank of Flight Lieutenant, in 1940; he was the medical officer at 5 Recruiting Centre, Adelaide.  Interestingly, during his time there, he rejected a potential pilot, the famous Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, because of a latent squint. He sailed to England via Nova Scotia, and the Panama Canal, on the troop ship MV Aorangi. He recalled that, as the ship had to travel without lights, the engineer was reprimanded for too many sparks in the diesel smoke! The troop ship was well equipped with medical instruments; these included dark ground microscopes for detecting syphilis in appropriate samples. Frayne was posted to 460 Sqn RAAF at RAF Brieghton, Yorkshire, England in 1941. The squadron, which, operationally, flew Wellington and later Lancaster bombers, subsequently moved to RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire. This famous RAAF Squadron flew the most sorties of any Australian bomber squadron and dropped more bomb tonnage (24,856 tons) than any squadron in the whole of Bomber Command. The squadron also experienced the greatest losses of any Australian squadron during the war (1,018 combat deaths of whom 589 were Australian). Frayne was responsible for the crews, the ambulance, public health and sanitation. The latter was quite a responsibility as the flow of sewage, which drained into the adjacent river Ouse, was frequently blocked. In addition, he had the grim task of removing the injured and dead from the turrets and cabins of the returning bombers; this included hosing out blood and human tissue. Accommodation was in Nissen huts and he found the English weather freezing; this was to have a lasting effect as he never complained of the heat  after his return to SA. In London, he met HRH the Princess Elizabeth at a reception and observed that, despite the war, all sorts of luxuries were available, including champagne and caviar, albeit very expensive. Promoted squadron leader he ultimately returned to Australia via New York travelling on Queen Mary. The Americans, in New York, called him and his crew ‘limeys’ mistaking them for English sailors. Relocated in South Australia in 1944 he was the medical officer to 2 Air Gunnery School in Port Pirie, SA. The crew trained in Fairey Battle and Avro Anson (which had a wooden frame) aircraft. Unfortunately, he had to attend a number of aircraft accidents; one was at Lake Hart, SA, where the two crew members had been killed. He married Helen Ligertwood in 1945; they were to have five children. Frayne retired from the RAAF in 1946.

Following the war Frayne practised in a busy general practice in Hawthorn, SA. He was a clinical assistant in the Ear Nose and Throat Department at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital from 1946 until 1969; they rewarded him with a medal when he retired. An interest in anaesthesia saw him, as a general practitioner, give many general anaesthetics. These included many anaesthetics, for his cousin, Dr Bruce Frayne, a dentist, in his North Terrace, Adelaide, rooms.  His interests included the consumption of fine wine for which South Australia is renowned, but perhaps for him, it helped coping with his wartime experiences. John Felix Frayne died in SA on 5th June 1997. His wife, Helen, had predeceased him in 1978. He was survived by his children, Josephine, Tom (a medical practitioner), Felix, Barbara and Rosalie.

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