Lumen Summer 2015 - Flipbook - Page 6
Rallying for the Great War
Targeting guns
University of Adelaide Nobel Laureate William Lawrence
Bragg had his groundbreaking research interrupted by war.
He put his enormous talent to work developing sound ranging
methods to locate enemy guns. This was the most important
development in artillery accuracy for the entire war and hastened
victory in 1918. For his efforts during World War I he was awarded
the Military Cross
and appointed
an Officer of the
Order of the
British Empire.
Rhodes Scholar Alan Wilson Morey
typified the bravery and heroics of
University of Adelaide students who
fought in the First World War.
Five Rhodes Scholars from the University
took part in the conflict and Lieutenant
Morey was the only one to die after
being severely wounded twice and
volunteering to fight on after recovering.
A brilliant medical student, he was badly
wounded in the shoulder at the Battle of
Loos and awarded the Military Cross.
Mildred May George
was among the many
University of Adelaide
medical graduates
who supported the
war effort, but she
was the only female.
She was given the rank of
captain and remained as a resident medical officer at
the Royal Adelaide Hospital during the war. She later
became a champion of women’s and children’s health
and welfare before she was lost at sea after falling
from a passenger ship near Madagascar in 1933,
aged 45. Dr George is one of only a handful of women
on the University’s Great War Roll of Service.
Right: WL Bragg
seated third from left
(photo source: W.H.
Bragg and W.L. Bragg;
the research records
of John Jenkin)
Bravery on
the battleÞeld
Champion
of women’s
health
During subsequent training as a pilot
his aircraft crashed after failing in
mid-air and he was so badly crippled
he could only walk with the aid of two
sticks. But that didn’t prevent him from
volunteering to continue flying in France
which later proved fatal. He died during
combat when his wing was ripped off
in a crash with a German aircraft the
day before he was to be promoted to
captain. He was aged just 24.
Victoria Cross
Arthur Blackburn was the first South
Australian to be awarded the Victoria
Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest
bravery award, for his
gallantry at the Battle
of Pozières.
A law graduate, Blackburn
fought in both world
wars reaching the rank
of brigadier. He won
multiple awards in military
and civilian life and was
made a Commander of
the Order of the British
Empire in 1946.
Left: Alan Wilson Morey
(standing far left), Arthur
Blackburn (seated far left)
University lacrosse team, 1912
University library
exhibition:
Adelaide in 1914
Experience a snapshot of life at the
University and in Adelaide in the
year that World War I was declared.
Visit the exhibition at Rare Books and
Special Collections, Barr Smith Library
(level 1), North Terrace campus until 31
December 2014.
www.bit.ly/1uT8tHp
4 Lumen | Summer 2015
