WITH the mammoth Bathurst Remembers World War Two Exhibition 2021 happening later this year, my article this week involves a Bathurst-born military doctor. The date has been changed for the four-day exhibition, which will mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two. It will now open from Friday, December 3 to Monday, December 6, 2021 at the Bathurst Showground.
The exhibition will open to the public each day from 9am to 5pm, except on Monday, when it will close at 4pm.
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The exhibition will consist of 600 photos in the Snapshots of World War Two, 130 photos in the Wall of Valour and some 1300 images in PowerPoint presentations.
More than 200 people and families have contributed all sorts of images to the exhibition.
More than 30 guest exhibitors will converge on Bathurst to display 4000 military items and World War Two memorabilia.
More than 30 military World War Two vehicles will be on display, along with a model railway based on the war.
To mark the anniversary of the RAAF, there will be three specific displays.
There will be a rustic military picture theatre showing wartime newsreels.
Dr Brooke Moore was born in Bathurst on August 29, 1899, the son of Dr John Moore. He attended All Saints' College in Bathurst and served four years in the cadets and the militia.
He graduated in 1924 from St Paul's College at Sydney University, where he received his M.B., Ch.M. degrees.
He subsequently attained his F.R.C.S. (Edin.), F.R.A.C.S., afterwards joining his father Dr John Moore's medical practice. His father died on Sunday, August 29, 1937.
He enlisted at Paddington in 1940 and received his service number NX12361, listing his next of kin as Lilian Moore. Dr Moore served with distinction as a specialist surgeon with the rank of major in the 2/5th Australian General Field Hospital (5AGH).
Dr Moore was still serving in Greece in March 1941, but the position was not good. Numbers of British, Australian and New Zealand troops were in retreat and being taken off by the Navy.
About half of the 2/5th AGH's staff had been evacuated before the hospital fell to the German troops, but the remainder, including Dr Moore, were captured on April 27, 1941.
The Germans took over the hospital, which then housed some 400 wounded, later swelling to 3000 when the Battle of Crete was on. The Germans allowed his hospital to continue to operate from various locations around Athens where he performed surgery on many Australian, New Zealand and British battle casualties.
In December 1941, his staff and patients were dispersed to various prisoner-of-war camps in Germany.
At one time in Germany, Dr Moore was looking after 400 Australians, Maorilanders, Canadians and South Africans, all the while earning a high reputation among them.
This 6' 13/4" high man became well known for the way in which he stood up to the Germans, demanding the best possible treatment for his patients.
Dr Moore ended up in Stalag 383 in Hohenfels in Bavaria, surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers.
It was by now a camp mainly for officers and to keep busy, he formed a branch of the St John Ambulance Brigade and conducted first-aid classes for the allied prisoners.
The camp held 8000 prisoners at times.
After the war was over, Dr Brooke Moore was Mentioned in Despatches, which was noted in the London Gazette in December 1945 and the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette in April 1947.
Hundreds of photos such as this - during training, on leave with mates and in war situations around Australia and the world - will be displayed at the Bathurst Remembers World War Two Exhibition 2021 which will run from Friday, December 3 to Monday, December 6, 2021 at the Bathurst Showground, with lots to see.
For further details on the exhibition, contact curator Alan McRae on 6331 5404 or amcrae@lisp.com.au.
