Thomas Henry Fiaschi
Tomaso (Thomas) Fiaschi was born in Florence, Italy, in 1853. He began his medical studies before departing for Australia, aged 21. He practised briefly in Cooktown and at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney before returning to Italy to complete his studies.
Thomas’s military career began when he joined the New South Wales (NSW) Army Medical Corps in 1891, with a rank of captain. He joined the NSW Lancers in 1894; served as surgeon with the Italian Army in the Abyssinian war in 1896; and commanded the NSW 1st Field Hospital with General Hutton’s brigade in the Boer War in 1899. He was decorated for his service in the latter two conflicts.
Thomas was 61 and a doyen of the Sydney medical establishment when the Great War broke out. The renowned surgeon was the driving force behind No. 3 Australian General Hospital (3AGH); with the Gallipoli campaign imminent, he made a request to the British War Office to set up a hospital on Lemnos to treat the wounded. By mid-May, 3AGH was formed and embarked on the SS Mooltan.
Thomas headed 3AGH, an effective but basic hospital with a very low mortality rate, until serious illness led to his medical evacuation in November 1915. Lieutenant Colonel Constantine de Crespigny then became commanding officer, remaining so until 3AGH left Lemnos.
Thomas had a complex relationship with nurses. His association with Matron Grace Wilson became testy due to his unreasonable treatment of the nurses at 3AGH. This led to an investigation by Major General Fetherston, who considered his behaviour ‘shameful’ and his attitude resentful.
His complex relationships with nurses preceded Lemnos. Early in his career, he lost his house surgeon position at St Vincent’s because of a relationship with a nurse; not only a nurse, Sister Mary (also known as Catherine) was a Catholic nun. Excommunicated, she became Thomas’s first wife. Soon after Catherine’s death, 61-year-old Thomas married 28-year-old nurse Amy Curtis, his practice nurse and receptionist. Married nurses could not serve, so Amy enlisted under her unmarried name to serve with 3AGH. On the voyage to Lemnos, it became apparent she was pregnant. Amy was set down in Alexandria, with Staff Nurse Anne Donnell appointed midwife and to stay with her until after the birth.
When Thomas returned to Australia in 1917, he resumed his association with Sydney Hospital and was a member of the state branch of the Australian Medical Association and president of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association. His other passion was viticulture. He had owned a winery before the war and bought another in its wake. He was a member and sometimes president of the Australian Wine Producers of NSW.
Thomas developed bronchopneumonia and died of the condition on 17 April 1927, aged 73.
