Neville Howse

{{short description|Australian Army general, politician, and recipient of the Victoria Cross}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Major General The Honourable

| name = Sir Neville Howse

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|VCi|KCB|KCMG|FRCS}}

| image = Neville Howse - Fairfax (cropped).jpg

|office = Minister for Defence

|primeminister = Stanley Bruce

|term_start = 16 January 1925

|term_end = 2 April 1927

|predecessor = Eric Bowden

|successor = William Glasgow

|office1 = Minister for Health

|primeminister1 = Stanley Bruce

|term_start1 = 24 February 1928

|term_end1 = 22 October 1929

|predecessor1 = Stanley Bruce

|successor1 = Frank Anstey

|primeminister2 = Stanley Bruce

|term_start2 = 16 January 1925

|term_end2 = 2 April 1927

|predecessor2 = Herbert Pratten

|successor2 = Stanley Bruce

| constituency_MP3 = Calare

| parliament3 = Australian

| majority3 =

| predecessor3 = Thomas Lavelle

| successor3 = George Gibbons

| term_start3 = 16 December 1922

| term_end3 = 12 October 1929

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1863|10|26}}

| birth_place = Stogursey, Somerset, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1930|9|19|1863|10|26}}

| death_place = London, England

| restingplace = Kensal Green Cemetery, London

| spouse = {{marriage|Evelyn Pilcher|1905}}

| party = Nationalist

| relations =

| children = Everil, Neville, Evelyn, John, AlisonBraga 2000, p83.

| occupation = Doctor, soldier, politician

| allegiance = Australia

| branch = Australian Army

| serviceyears = 1900–22

| rank = Major General

| commands = Director General of Medical Services
Australian Army Medical Corps

| battles =

| mawards = Victoria Cross
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knight of the Order of Saint John
Mentioned in Despatches

}}

Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse, {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|VCi|KCB|KCMG|FRCS}} (26 October 1863 – 19 September 1930) was an Australian Army officer, medical doctor, and politician. He was the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.

Howse was born in Somerset, England, and followed his father into the medical profession. He emigrated to Australia in 1889 and eventually settled in Orange, New South Wales. During the Boer War, Howse served with the Australian medical corps. He was awarded the VC for his rescue of a wounded man at Vredefort in July 1900, while under heavy rifle fire. During the First World War, Howse served in New Guinea, Gallipoli, and on the Western Front. He oversaw the medical services of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and finished the war with the rank of major-general. He was elected to parliament in 1922, and was subsequently appointed to cabinet by Stanley Bruce. He served as Minister for Defence (1925–1927), Health (1925–1927; 1928–1929), and Home and Territories (1928).

Early life

Howse was born in Stogursey, Somerset, England, the son of Lucy Elizabeth (née Conroy) and Alfred Howse. He was educated at Fullard's House School in Taunton. He chose to follow his father (a surgeon) into the medical profession, studying medicine at London Hospital. He attained the qualifications MRCS and LRCP in 1886, and subsequently became a demonstrator in anatomy at the University of Durham.{{cite journal|first=Alec|last=Hill|author-link=Alec Hill|title=Howse, Sir Neville Reginald (1863–1930)|journal=Australian Dictionary of Biography|year=1983}}

In 1889, Howse immigrated to Australia for health reasons. He initially settled in Newcastle, New South Wales, but later moved to Taree. He returned to England in 1895 for further studies, obtaining the rank of FRCS in 1897. He moved back to Australia in 1899 and bought a medical practice in Orange, which would remain his primary residence for the next 30 years except during his overseas military service.Braga 2000, p34.

Military service

=Boer War=

Howse served in the Second Boer War with the Second Contingent of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps, Australian Forces, arriving at East London, Eastern Cape, in February 1900Braga 2000, p53. as a lieutenant.{{London Gazette |issue=27863 |page=8902 |date=12 December 1905 }}

On 24 July 1900, during the action at Vredefort, South Africa, Howse saw a trumpeter fall, and went through very heavy cross-fire to rescue the man. His horse was soon shot from under him, but he continued on foot, reached the casualty, dressed his wound, and then carried him to safety. For this action, Howse was awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was gazetted on 4 June 1901 and the original citation reads:

{{Quote|The King has been graciously pleased to signify His intention to confer the decoration of the Victoria Cross on the undermentioned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officer, and Soldier, for their conspicuous bravery in South Africa, as stated against their names :—

New South Wales Medical Staff Corps, Captain N. R. House{{sic}}

During the action at Vredefort on 24 July 1900, Captain House went out under a heavy cross fire and picked up a wounded man, and carried him to a place of shelter.{{London Gazette |issue=27320 |page=3769 |date=4 June 1901 }}}}

He thus became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross serving in the Australian armed forces; his medal is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.Lindsay 2003, p52. Howse was subsequently promoted to captain on 15 October 1900.Braga 2000, p59.

The Second Contingent left South Africa via Cape Town on 13 December 1900 on the S.S. Orient,Murray 1911, p16. however Howse had been invalided to Britain on 28 November 1900.{{cite web |url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/Other/shipping/190012.htm |title=Shipping Records Dec 1900 |access-date=15 September 2008 |work=Anglo Boer War.com |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201150011/http://www.angloboerwar.com/Other/shipping/190012.htm |archive-date=1 December 2008}} Howse subsequently returned to Australia at the end of February 1901. Following the gazetting of his VC, Howse was presented with the medal in a ceremony at Victoria Barracks, Sydney on 4 December 1901. Also at the ceremony were Captain A. Heathcote and Sergeant J. Paton, prior recipients of the VC for actions during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, who had subsequently migrated to New South Wales.Tyquin 1999, p24.

Howse returned to South Africa as a major with the Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) in command of the Bearer Company, arriving at Durban in Natal on 17 March 1902. Following service in Natal, Orange River Colony and Western Transvaal (attached to Colonel A.W. Thornycroft's Mounted Infantry Column), at the conclusion of the war he became seriously ill. He was again invalided to Britain on 6 July 1902,{{cite web |url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/Other/shipping/190207.htm |title=Shipping Records Jul 1902 |access-date=15 September 2008 |work=Anglo Boer War.com |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201133918/http://www.angloboerwar.com/Other/shipping/190207.htm |archive-date=1 December 2008}} with the remainder of the AAMC contingent departing for Australia on 8 July 1902. Howse eventually returned to Australia in November 1902.

In 1905 Howse married Evelyn Pilcher in Bathurst, and was twice elected to serve as mayor of the City of Orange.

=First World War=

File:Neville Howse - Anglo-Swiss (cropped).jpg

When the First World War began, Howse was appointed principal medical officer to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to German New Guinea, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.{{cite web|url=http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/219218 |title=First World War Service Record – Neville Reginald Howse |publisher=National Archives of Australia |access-date=8 October 2014}}

File:1st Division Staff.jpg

Following his time in New Guinea, he was appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services 1st Australian Division. During the Gallipoli campaign he took charge of evacuating wounded men from the beach in the campaign’s opening days. In 1917 at the Dardanelles commission, he described the arrangements for dealing with wounded men at Gallipoli as inadequate to the point of 'criminal negligence'. He was Mentioned in Despatches for his service in this campaign.{{London Gazette |issue=29251 |supp=y |page=7668 |date=3 August 1915 }}

In September 1915 he was given command of ANZAC medical services and in November became director of the AIF’s medical services, with the rank of surgeon-general.{{London Gazette |issue=29393 |page=12199 |date=7 December 1915 }} Surgeon-general. When the Australian Imperial Force moved to France, Howse took up a position in London, overseeing medical services in France, Egypt and Palestine. At the beginning of 1917 he was promoted to major general.Braga 2000, p240.

Howse was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1915 King's Birthday Honours,{{London Gazette |issue=29202 |supp=y |page=6112 |date=22 June 1915 }} was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 22 January 1917,{{London Gazette |issue=29916 |supp=y |page=923 |date=23 January 1917 }} and appointed Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem{{London Gazette|issue=31380|page=7064|date=3 June 1919}} and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1919.{{London Gazette|issue=31395|page=7425|date=6 June 1919}} From 1921 to 1925 he was Director-General of Medical Services.

Politics

File:Neville Howse - Lafayette (cropped).jpg

In 1922, Howse resigned his army commission to enter politics, as regulations at the time forbade political campaigning by members of the regular army. He was elected to the House of Representatives, standing for the Nationalist Party in the Division of Calare. He subsequently represented Australia at the League of Nations Assembly in 1923. In January 1925, Howse was elevated to cabinet by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce as Minister for Defence and Minister for Health. In the defence portfolio his primary responsibility was for repatriation. He was a member of the Australian delegation to the 1926 Imperial Conference in London, but was taken ill and had to resign his portfolios in April 1927. He was kept on in the ministry as an honorary minister without portfolio.

In February 1928, Howse was reappointed Minister for Health and also made Minister for Home and Territories. He relinquished the latter portfolio in November 1928 after that year's election. Howse made a significant impact during his two periods as health minister. He helped establish the Federal Health Council of Australia, supported the formation of the Australian College of Surgeons and the first conference of Australian cancer organisations, and was instrumental in the decision to site the Australian Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. In 1928, he convinced cabinet to spend the considerable sum of £100,000 to establish one of the world's first radium banks, allowing Australia to become a centre of radiological research. He was also credited with inspiring public confidence in Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and the government's immunisation programs, at a time when a series of fatalities – including the Bundaberg tragedy of 1928 – had led to a distrust of immunisation among the general population.

Howse lost his seat in parliament in the Labor landslide at the 1929 election.{{cite web |title=Members of the House of Representatives since 1901 |work=Parliamentary Handbook |publisher=Parliament of Australia |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=HANDBOOK;id=handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2008-12-19%2F0077;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2008-12-19%2F0071%22 |access-date=11 November 2010}}

Death and legacy

File:NevilleHowseKensalGreen01.jpg]]

In February 1930, Howse travelled to England for medical treatment for cancer, but died on 19 September 1930, and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. His son, John Howse, was member for Calare from 1946 to 1960.

A statue by Peter Dornan depicting Howse's act of bravery is on display at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Melbourne.

A postage stamp commemorating Howse was issued by Australia Post in 2000.

A one dollar coin designed by Wojciech Pietranik commemorating the centenary of Howse's feat of arms was issued by the Royal Australian Mint in 2000.

He was a freemason.[http://www.lodgedevotion.net/devotionnews/famous-australian-freemasons/large-list-of-notable-and-famous-australian-freemasons/Famous%20Australian%20Freemasons%202015%2001%2009%20with%20index.pdf Famous &/or Notable Australian Freemasons]

Honours and awards

File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg

File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg

File:Ord.St.Michele-Giorgio.png

File:Order of St John (UK) ribbon -vector.svg

100px

class="wikitable"
bgcolor="silver" align="center"\|Ribbon	bgcolor="silver" align="center"\|Description	bgcolor="silver" align="center"\|Notes
80px	Victoria Cross (VC)	gazetted 1901
rowspan=2\|80px	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)	gazetted 1917
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)	gazetted 1915
80px	Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)	gazetted 1919
80px	Knight of Grace of the Order of St John	gazetted 1919
80px	Queen's South Africa Medal{{cite web\|url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-vc/howse-vc.htm\|title=Howse VC\|publisher=Digger history\|access-date=6 July 2009}}	with 6 clasps:Braga 2000, p76. CAPE COLONY, JOHANNESBURG, DIAMOND HILL, WINTERBERGEN, SOUTH AFRICA 1901 and SOUTH AFRICA 1902
80px	1914–15 Star{{cite web\|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=6994845&I=1&SE=1\|title=First World War service record of Neville Reginald Howse\|publisher=National Archives of Australia\|page=2\|access-date=30 June 2009}}
80px	British War Medal
80px	Victory Medal	with Oak Leaf for Mentioned in Despatches

Notes

References

{{cite book | last = Braga | first = Stuart | title = ANZAC doctor: the life of Sir Neville Howse, Australia's first VC | publisher = Hale & Iremonger Pty Ltd | year = 2000| location = Alexandria, NSW, Australia | isbn = 978-0868066943 }}
{{cite book| first=David| last=Harvey| author-link = David Charles Harvey| year=1999| title=Monuments to Courage : Victoria Cross headstones and memorials. Vol.1, 1854–1916| publisher= K & K Patience| oclc=59437297}}
{{cite book| first=Patrick| last=Lindsay| year=2003| title=The Spirit of the Digger – Then & Now | publisher= Macmillan, Sydney}}
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Hill|first=A. J.|author-link= Alec Hill|year=1967|id=A090387b|title= Howse, Sir Neville Reginald (1863–1930)|access-date=16 November 2008 }}
{{cite book | last = Murray | first = Lt. Col P.L. | title = Official Records of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa 1899–1902 | publisher = Albert J. Mullett, Government Printer | year = 1911 | location = Melbourne | url =https://archive.org/details/officialrecordso00murr | isbn = 978-1-921175-26-8}}
{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Neville Reginald|Last=Howse|shortlink=0-dict-biogHi-Hu.html#howse1|access-date=27 October 2008}}
{{cite book | last = Tyquin | first = Michael B. | title = Neville Howse: Australia's First Victoria Cross Winner | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1999 | location = Melbourne, Australia | isbn = 0-19-551190-5 }}
{{cite book | last = Tyquin | first = Michael B. | title = Little by Little: a Centenary History of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps | publisher = Australian Military History Publications | year = 2003 | location = Loftus, NSW, Australia | isbn = 1-876439-15-7 }}
The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)
[http://www.awm.gov.au/people/220.asp Who’s who in Australian Military History]

External links

{{cite web|url=http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/219218 |title=First World War Service Record – Neville Reginald Howse |publisher=National Archives of Australia |access-date=8 October 2014}}
[http://www.defence.gov.au/health/infocentre/journals/ADFHJ_apr02/ADFHealthApr02_3_1_36-39.pdf "The emerging office of the Surgeon General"], Lieutenant Colonel Robert L Pearce, Australian Defence Force Health Journal, April 2002
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041011030710/http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/~rmallett/Generals/howse.html Biographical Notes] by Ross Mallett on his AIF Order of Battle pages.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041213093156/http://www.pm.gov.au/news/speeches/2000/Stamp_23-7.htm Speech at launch of commemorative stamp issue] by John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia in Orange, New South Wales, 23 July 2000.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041209182727/http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-nurses/boer_war.htm Australian Nurses] in the Second Boer War – notes on the New South Wales Medical Corps in South Africa.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110722135637/http://deepthought.hass.adfa.edu.au:8080/showPerson?pid=70833 Record on AIF Project database]