Talk:John Brian Christopherson

A fact from John Brian Christopherson appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 6 February 2013 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that John Brian Christopherson found a cure for bilharzia in 1918?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2013/February. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/John Brian Christopherson.

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Military history: Biography / British / European / World War I C‑class

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First World War service

Not having access to the BMJ obituary is a bit of a disadvantage but from looking at some of the sources that are freely available, I'm not sure he served in the RAMC. The London Gazette entry for his award of the Order of the Nile specifically says he is a member of the Sudan Civil Service. Also he does have an entry in the Medal Roll Index for WW1 which gives his role as Civil Surgeon on Commission (War Dept) on medical establishment of BEF France, that's very different from being in the RAMC. NtheP (talk) 18:53, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Undercurent:

He worked first as a civilian volunteer with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in the South African war of 1900–02 (Figures 1 and 2).
Figure 1 Dr J B Christopherson in his RAMC uniform in the Boer War, 1900
Earlier, in 1904, the Sudan administration planned to establish a formal Sudan Medical Department (SMD). Dr T Acland (1851–1931), friend of both Christopherson and Wingate, invited Christopherson to take the position of Director.
In 1923, Professor George Wherry (1852–1928) of Cambridge University nominated him for the Nobel Prize for Medicine. In 1924, Sir Ronald Ross (1857–1932), of malaria fame and also a Bart’s man, put Christopherson’s name forward for Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS). Christopherson was honoured and delighted. In the end, neither the Nobel Prize nor the FRS materialized.

Orbituary:

he went to France, serving as secretary to the War Office Commission on Medical Establishments in the British Expeditionary Force.
For six years, from 1896 to 1902, he was on the surgical staff of the Albert Dock Hospital, but he went out as a surgeon to the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital, Deelfontein, during the South African War, and it was many years before he returned to work in England.

--Stone (talk) 23:49, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

And that's the point, none of those make any mention of being in the Army - I'll check the London Gazette again because if her served in the RAMC other than as a civilian volunteer then there should be a record of it. Is the photo you mention available online anywhere - it'd be interesting to see it, sometimes these are civilians in uniform but no rank or insignia badges (another example being war corresspondents dueing WW2). I think Christopherson is a fascinating character and I'd love to know more about his Serbian experiences so I'm not trying to run him down, I just want it to be right. NtheP (talk) 09:49, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

http://books.google.de/books?id=L3OsNIofmHQC&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q&f=false gives that they put im into a uniform without badges to give him some autority. --Stone (talk) 12:55, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Great link, pity only 50% of the book is there. But from what there is it looks clear that he was never in the Amry or the RAMC - he worked alongside them in South Africa and was a civilian member on the Commission during the First World War (although he hoped for an Army commission it never happened). On that basis I'd suggest that the category RAMC officers is removed from the article and also in the elad the description of him as a soldier. NtheP (talk) 16:37, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Later life?

There's just about nothing in this article about his later life and death. Did he marry? etc. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 14:23, 6 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Found 1 line in The Times. NtheP (talk) 21:28, 6 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]