Patrick Hehir

File:Sir Patrick Hehir, Malaria in India Wellcome L0026242.jpg

Major-General Sir Patrick Hehir {{post-nominals|country=GBR||KCIE|CB|CMG|FRSE|FRCPE|FRCSE|}} (17 May 1859 – 1 May 1937) was a British military surgeon. He served in the Indian Medical Service (IMS) and as the Principal Medical Officer to the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. During the 148 day Siege of Kut he suffered alongside the troops and wrote extensively on the topic of prolonged starvation.

Life

He was born on 17 May 1859, the son of Robert Martin Hehir of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland.

He studied at Calcutta University, qualified as a doctor in Brussels's, became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians at the University of Edinburgh, obtained a Diploma in Public Health from the University of Cambridge and then received a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the University of Liverpool.Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1615–1930 by D. G. Crawford, pages 208 & 209

In 1893 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Patrick Doyle, Sir Joseph Fayrer, Sir Byrom Bramwell and Thomas Annandale.{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf}}

During his years in India he appears to have become an opium addict. Back in Britain, when this was made illegal in 1894, he wrote he rued not being addicted to legal activities.Opium for the Masses, Jim Hogshire, p.41

He saw active service in many military campaigns and was highly decorated. In the First World War he served in Mesopotamia as the Principal Medical Officer. He was present at the Battle of Ctesiphon and the ill-fated Siege of Kut under General Charles Townshend. He was captured when the garrison surrendered on 29 April 1916 but was released 25 September 1916.List of British Officers taken prisoner in the various Theatres of War between August, 1914, and November 1918 by Cox & Co. He went on to see service in Waziristan in 1917 and lastly Afghanistan (1919).{{cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/sir-patrick-hehir-cb-cmg-kcie-md-dtm-frcpe-frcse-major-general-ims-knight-of-grace-of-the-order-of-st-john-of-jerusalem/B414AFD87FD42C6FEC00DDF6961414A4|title=Sir Patrick Hehir, C.B., C.M.G., K.C.I.E., M.D., D.T.M., F.R.C.P.E., F.R.C.S.E., Major-General, I.M.S., Knight of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem | Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | Cambridge Core|volume=57 |pages=416 |doi=10.1017/S0370164600013961 |accessdate=2018-04-10 |last1=m'k |first1=A. G. |date=January 1938 |doi-access=free }}

He retired 9 December 1919.

He died on 1 May 1937.

File:Kut1915.jpg