John Trevor Martin was born in Semaphore SA on 17 March 1937. After attending Adelaide Boys’ High School, he received a Commonwealth Scholarship to Adelaide University to study Medicine. He was awarded Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1961.
John joined the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) in 1963 as a Medical Officer in the 3rd Field Ambulance and then the 27th Battalion, before he departed to the UK. His studies were ongoing, and he gained his Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1967 and his Fellowship in 1979.
Leaving Australia, John worked twice as a Ship’s Surgeon, first on the Port Vindex from Dunedin to the UK, and then on the Blue Star Line’s SS Brasil Star. Memorable moments included performing an appendicectomy with local anaesthetic on a Captain’s table, and his lifeboat transfer of a patient, ship-to-ship in the mid-Atlantic, for care and observation.
After arriving in England, John was working as a Specialist O&G when he met his future wife Janet, who was practising Midwifery in Manchester. They lived and worked with NATO forces in Germany for four years. In addition to his clinical expertise, John’s fluent knowledge of the German language was a great advantage when treating his patients.
Returning to live in Adelaide in 1976, John held Senior Visiting Medical Specialist appointments at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, as well as Clinical Privilege positions at several private hospitals.
In later years, John worked in a variety of O&G private practices. He and Janet eventually purchased Private Rooms on Hackney Road, where they worked until John’s retirement from Private Practice in 2002. John continued to work in the Public Hospital system until full retirement in 2006.
John was a loving and much-loved husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was a patient and tolerant man, knowledgeable in current affairs, and possessed a delightful sense of humour. Among family and friends, he was renowned as a great raconteur. University was a major part of his life – socially as well as academically – and he could count the Medgrads Group of former Adelaide Medical School colleagues among his many life-long friendships.
John died peacefully in his sleep early on 17 November 2022. He will be greatly missed.
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Thank you for publishing part of John’s Eulogy. My sons and I have only just discivered it in the O & G Magazine.
John & Ken Rollond worked together for many years in Private Practice in Adelaide, soit is quite significant that both their obituaries are in the same magazine..