This week the CALHN Health Museum commemorated 106 years since the end of World War I
The CALHN Health Museum in conjunction with the Volunteer Unit, was once again invited to honour and remember CALHN staff members who served in the Australian Defence Forces during times of armed conflict.
This year the museum decided to highlight Dr Roger Angove (1915 – 1998) for both his military and medical service. Dr Angove studied at the University of Adelaide and graduated in 1939 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery but with the emergence of World War II, like many around the world, put personal ambitions aside to serve their country.
Enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Medical Branch in 1940, Dr Angove would travel from Sydney to Canada, and then to the United Kingdom. From there, he served in Palestine and near the Suez Canal in 1942, followed by Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Sicily in 1943. During his service, Dr Angove rose to the rank of squadron leader. Unlike his father who died during Battle of Somme in World War I, Dr Angove saw the end of hostilities and was discharged on 4 October 1945.
After the war, Dr Angove devoted his life to medicine. Upon returning to Australia, he was appointed medical registrar at the RAH, where he worked until 1985. He would serve as Honorary Clinical Assistant, Honorary Assistant Physician, Honorary Physician, Senior Visiting Medical Specialist and Emeritus Specialist. In the 1970s, he was integral to the establishment of the RAH Thoracic Medicine Department.
Outside of his military and medical service, Dr Angove’s interests included history and winemaking, as well as fishing and birdwatching. He was the inaugural president of the Burnside Historical Society, with a street named in his honour in Burnside, and formed a triumphant committee under the name “Save the Grange Vineyards”. His grandfather, Dr William Angove, established Angove Wines in 1886, a family tradition that continues today.
The CALHN Health Museum is custodian to a range of paraphernalia once used by Dr Angove and other servicemen and women. Have a browse on eHive for other items of interest.
This is but one story among the many who served their country.
Lest we forget.
Written by Anna Grigoriev, CALHN Health Museum