31 Facts About William Refshauge

William Refshauge was Honorary Physician to Queen Elizabeth II, director-general of the Australian Government Department of Health, and secretary-general of the World Medical Association.

William Dudley Duncan Refshauge was born in Wangaratta, Victoria on 3 April 1913, where his father was headmaster of the Wangaratta High School.

William Refshauge was involved in the Boy Scouts movement, and later with the sport of rowing.

William Refshauge attended Scotch College, Melbourne and was selected in the First Eight for the Melbourne Head of the River while still aged only 15, and rowed in three subsequent years.

William Refshauge studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, was awarded a University Blue for Rowing, and graduated in 1938.

William Refshauge became resident medical officer at The Alfred Hospital the following year.

In 1939, when the Second World War started, William Refshauge joined the Second Australian Imperial Force as a medical officer with the rank of captain in the 2nd Field Ambulance.

William Refshauge saw service in the Middle East, the Battle of Bardia, the capture of Tobruk, the Greek campaign, the Battle of Crete, New Guinea and Borneo.

William Refshauge was promoted to major in 1942 and later to lieutenant colonel.

William Refshauge was mentioned in despatches four times and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1944.

William Refshauge was appointed the first permanent medical superintendent of the Women's Hospital, Melbourne, in 1948.

In 1951, during the Korean War, William Refshauge rejoined the Australian Army and was appointed deputy director-general of Army Medical Services.

William Refshauge assisted in the establishment of the Army School of Health at Healesville, Victoria, and adopted a system of training and recruiting medical officers.

William Refshauge attended the nuclear testing sites of Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll, but was not consulted during the British nuclear tests at Maralinga.

From 1955 to 1964, William Refshauge was Honorary Physician to Queen Elizabeth II.

William Refshauge was Chairman of the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Commonwealth Council for National Fitness, the National Tuberculosis Council and various other advisory bodies.

William Refshauge maintained his interest in rowing, and was a member of the Organising Committee for the 1964 Australian Rowing Championships and Olympic Trials on Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra.

William Refshauge was chairman of the two main committees of the World Health Assembly, chairman of the executive board of WHO, and president of the 24th World Health Assembly in 1971.

In 1973, William Refshauge became secretary-general of the World Medical Association, near Geneva, a post he held until 1976.

William Refshauge instigated the move of the secretariat from New York City to Geneva to work more closely with the office of the WHO.

William Refshauge rewrote the Helsinki Declaration of Ethics for the WHO but eventually resigned because of a lack support from his board.

William Refshauge led the RSL Tour of the Battlefields of Europe to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Remembrance Day on 11 November 1978.

William Refshauge was a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators and a Foundation Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

William Refshauge was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Health and a Life Member of the Australian Dental Association.

William Refshauge was a board member of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

In 1959, William Refshauge was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the army, and in 1965 was awarded the Efficiency Decoration.

In 1942, William Refshauge married Helen Elizabeth Allwright, a senior nursing sister at the Alfred Hospital, and they had four sons and a daughter.

Sir William Refshauge died on 27 May 2009, aged 96.

In 1999 the annual Sir William Refshauge Lecture was inaugurated.

William Refshauge was a member of the Honour Roll in the 2007 National Drug and Alcohol Awards of the Australian Drug Foundation.

Long aware of the obscenity of the effects of war, in 1989 Sir William Refshauge became, and remained until his death, Patron of the Medical Association for Prevention of War.