The Queen's College Record 2020

Obituaries
and George Hasell (Queen’s, 1867) who provided financial support for Bill’s schooling.
Attending St Bees School from 1926, he came up to Queen’s in 1930, receiving a
Thomas Exhibition. On arrival he noted that the Provost had not been seen for over
ten years, but the College did brew its own beer. Taught by such luminaries as Charles
Sherrington and John Eccles, Bill also listened to Gandhi speaking at a small public
meeting in the town.
Graduating BA in 1934, Bill moved to St Mary’s Hospital for clinical training. Here his
teachers included Sir Almroth Wright, Alexander Fleming (who warned students of the
likely development of antibiotic resistance) and Leonard Colebrook (who demonstrated
the life-saving effects of ‘Prontosil rubrum’ in puerperal sepsis). An accomplished
middle-distance runner, Bill always found it amusing that he returned to Iffley Road to
‘compete for a University (London) of which I am not a member, against my own.’
Qualifying BM, BCh in 1938, Bill’s first appointment was House Physician to Sir
Charles Wilson (later Lord Moran). The winds of war were blowing through Europe
and on 1 September 1939 Bill volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps, aware
that there would be a great demand for doctors. After two years of service at home,
he sailed from Liverpool in September 1941, destination unknown. His ship berthed
in Singapore one week before the tumultuous events of Pearl Harbor. Over the next
three months he witnessed the Japanese attacks, and only avoided being bayonetted
to death by ‘the toss of coin.’ Just two days before capitulation he ensured the safe
passage of 35 nurses to Singapore Harbour where they boarded a ship requisitioned
for evacuation.
Taken prisoner on 15 February 1942, Bill spent the next 18 months in Changi Camp
where he witnessed the effects of starvation, deprivation and wanton cruelty on his
fellow prisoners, whilst at the same time practising medicine with few, if any, basic
medical supplies. In November 1943 he was sent as medical officer for 300 men on
the island of Blakang Mati (invariably called ‘Hell Island’) where his skilled medical
care, despite a lack of medical supplies, ensured that not one man died whilst captive
on the island. The two years of incarceration were marked by hardship and suffering
during which Bill came close to death on more than one occasion.
With the dropping of the atom bomb in August 1945 Bill was freed, although
continued to look after many sick prisoners in Singapore. Finally returning home in
late 1945, he was asked if he wished to see a psychiatrist. ‘No’, he replied, ‘I wish
to see my wife.’ Returning to London he decided to put his war-time experiences
behind him and pursue his medical career. Back at St Mary’s he soon developed an
interest in clinical allergy, and over the next 70 years made outstanding contributions
in this area. In 1954, whilst working as Clinical Assistant to Sir Alexander Fleming,
he published the first ever double-blind controlled trial in seasonal asthma, a paper
which continues to be quoted throughout the world. He developed and popularised
the daily pollen count to inform those suffering from seasonal hayfever. His drive to
learn more about allergic responses led him to self-experiment with a blood sucking
122 The Queen’s College | College Record 2020