Frontline Surgeon: New Zealand Medical Pioneer Douglas Jolly by Mark Derby tells the story of Douglas Jolly, born in Cromwell and one of the unsung heroes of twentieth-century wartime medicine. His work with the forces of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War, and with the British and New Zealand militaries during World War 2 was instrumental in developing much better systems of battlefield medicine and helping ensure considerably more wounded soldiers survived. Yet Jolly and his work became forgotten after the war, and Derby’s book seeks to put Jolly and his work back into the spotlight.
Derby’s biography starts with his early life and experiences – his family’s history in Cromwell, and his education at Otago Boys’ High School, before studying medicine at the University of Otago in the 1920s. Jolly’s Presbyterian upbringing and the death of his father on the Western Front helped shaped the man he became, and even while still in New Zealand, he became involved with Christian socialism and started to build the networks that led him to Spain in 1936. Jolly had to leave New Zealand to further his studies, finding himself in Britain during the late 1920s and early 1930s and becoming even more involved in Christian socialism and left-wing international movements.
The most interesting part of Derby’s book is covering Jolly’s service in the Spanish Civil War. The military coup that quickly emerged into a civil war inspired many outside Spain to support and volunteer to fight with the Spanish Republic. Jolly joined a British medical volunteer unit, and alongside other foreign volunteers and Spanish doctors and nurses, was thrown into combat. Jolly used his knowledge and experiences in the fighting to help re-develop Republican battlefield medicine and create new systems and techniques that meant many more wounded soldiers survived and received help more quickly. Through the rest of the Civil War, he was able to continue developing his ideas and systems into something remarkably effective even as the Republican armies collapsed.
After the foreign volunteers were sent home in late 1938, Jolly travelled around Britain and New Zealand, advocating for the Spanish Republic and warning of the looming fight against fascism. In 1940, he authored a book setting out what he had learned in Spain and these ideas were quickly taken up by the British and New Zealand armed forces, as well as inspiring American military doctors. Jolly put his ideas into action in North Africa and Italy with the British and New Zealand forces.
Yet after the war, he was unable to build the successful medical career his skills and experience should have given him. He suffered from bipolar disorder at a time when this was little understood and not well treated, though he was able to find some stability in his life once drug treatments became available.
Despite the importance of his work and how well regarded he was by his military medical peers, Jolly and his work have not received the attention they deserve. Mark Derby’s book does a wonderful job of bringing Douglas Jolly and his work to the prominence they deserve.
Read more by Mark Derby
Rock College
The Prophet and the Policeman
Petals and Bullets
Kiwi Compañeros
Read more about the Spanish Civil War and foreign volunteers
Hell and Good Company
The Battle for Spain
The Last Days of the Spanish Republic
The International Brigades
Tomorrow Perhaps the Future
Homage to Catalonia
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Add a comment to: Frontline Surgeon: New Zealand Medical Pioneer Douglas Jolly by Mark Derby