Alan Frederick Bromwich, OBE, KStJ, RFD, MB BS, FRCS, FRACS

Alan Frederick Bromwich (23 February 1924–18 October 2015) was an outstanding surgeon and an exceptional Australian. He graduated in medicine from Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in 1945. After working in Aden, Saudi Arabia, he emigrated from England to Darwin in 1958. For a considerable period he was the only government surgeon in the Northern Territory. He instigated the regular surgical services in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Gove (Nhulunbuy). For a generation, he undertook all forms of general and emergency surgery, often flying in the aerial ambulance to stabilise gravely injured patients. Many emergency retrievals were flown at night, often landing at airstrips lit by the headlights of vehicles from outback communities.

Alan’s community service was legendary. He served from 1946 to 1948 as a Royal Air Force medical officer in England, and from 1963 was the senior Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) officer in the NT. In 1981, he was awarded the Harkness Memorial Medal by the RAAMC, its highest award of esteem, and retired as Colonel in 1985. He was also the NT Commissioner for St John Ambulance from 1978 to 1984.

His role in the Cyclone Tracy disaster on 25 December 1974 was remarkable. His experiences during the London Blitz, followed by his Army and St John Ambulance training, supplemented his emergency surgery experience in the NT. Before the cyclone had dissipated, he walked to the old Darwin Hospital at some risk to himself, and personally triaged over 400 patients.

Alan was a modest and respectful man, always neat and ordered. He had many passions — literature, poetry, cryptic crosswords, sailing, cabinet-making, a love of cats and the breeding of budgerigars. He received an Order of the British Empire in 1982 and was knighted in the Order of St John in 1993. His memorials include the Bromwich Cup in the NT branch of St John Ambulance and the Alan Bromwich Wing at Katherine Hospital.

His wife Rosemary (1924–2009) was his supporter throughout his life of exceptional medical and community service. Alan is survived by four of his five children and fifteen grandchildren.