Medical Cap worn by Dr Maurice Buchan JOHNSON

Maurice Buchan JOHNSON was born on 18 September 1881 in Kew, Victoria. Appointed to the Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) on 19 September 1914, he embarked Australia on HMAT Kyarra (A55) on 5 December 1914. He served at the 1st Australian General Hospital and later at the AAMC training depot, where he was promoted to the rank of Major in November 1916. Records show that he was hospitalised due to Synovitis in his right knee, a condition that saw him spending time in the Number 3 General Hospital in London before being found fit by the Medical Board in April 1916. and then transferred to the Number 12 Field Ambulance in June 1917. By January 1918 his knee condition was listed as ‘chronic, but JOHNSON continued to serve. On 11 April 1919 his appointment was terminated after being deemed “Medically Unfit for Active Service”. JOHNSON received the 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal in recognition of his service. On his return to Australia, JOHNSON practised medicine in Albany and was involved in several community groups and activities: President of the Albany sub-branch of the RSL (1923), Vice President of the Albany Cricket Association (1924). JOHNSON is associated with the official unveiling of Albany’s Roll of Honour Board’ on 25 April 1924 which features the names of 597 personnel who enlisted from Albany in the First World War. In addition, he was associated with the Albany Ambulance Brigade and conducted their First Aid examinations, assisted by Dr Arthur HOME. In 1928 JOHNSON and his wife left Albany for Perth and later travelled to North America and England in 1929 to observe the “splendid advances … made in the use of radiology”.
(The Daily News Tuesday 23 April 1929, p7). After his death on 18 January 1949, JOHNSON’s wife, Ruth, bequeathed $400 to the University of Western Australia for the ongoing “Maurice Buchan Johnson Prize in Botany”, awarded to the biology student majoring in and achieving the highest mark in ‘Plant Diversity and Conservation’. This prize continues today.