James Dick

Born in Windsor, New South Wales, in 1866, James Dick trained in medicine at Sydney and Edinburgh universities and the Rotunda Hospital, in Dublin. From 1893, he built a successful medical practice in Randwick. He served with the 2nd contingent of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps in South Africa, embarking for the Boer War in 1900. During his service, he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Queen’s Medal with six clasps.

Enlisting with the AIF in May 1915, James arrived on Lemnos with No. 3 Australian General Hospital (3AGH) in August, serving as second in command. His wife, Mrs Lillian Dick, also spent five weeks on Lemnos as a 3AGH voluntary aid. The pair had married in a lavish ceremony in Sydney in 1911, which boasted a guest list of more than 750 people, and they honeymooned in New Zealand.

It was unusual for members of the AIF to have their wives accompany them on overseas service and it appears James was reprimanded for this. In October, he was ordered to return to Australia, charged with ‘taking unauthorised persons on transports’. This order was later amended, allowing him to continue his work in Egypt and later on the Western Front. The ‘unauthorised person’ is not specified, but may well have been Lillian.

James Dick returned to Australia in August 1919. He passed away in his Randwick home in December 1942, aged 76.