Obituary: Wallace Barr, consultant obstetrician

Wallace Barr, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist. Picture: Contributed

DOCTOR who treated Field Marshal Montgomery during the war then became a successful consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist

Wallace Barr, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist.
Born: 6 April, 1919, in Paisley.

Died: 27 December, 2014, aged 95.

Wallace Barr, who has died at the age of 95, was a well-known consultant obstetrician in the Glasgow area. Born and bred in Paisley, he was educated at the John Neilson Institute and left aged 15, with the Dux medal. He wished to study medicine but was too young to enter the medical course, so he overcame this problem by entering the combined Science Medicine Course, qualifying BSc in 1938 and MB ChB, with commendation, in 1941.

After resident jobs in the Royal Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital, he was drafted into the army. He found himself as a medical officer to the 11th Battalion Green Howards in Lincolnshire.

He found this exceedingly boring so, along with a friend and colleague, he requested an overseas posting. This turned out to be to France – on D-Day.

He had trained to be part of a Beach Group and landed in Normandy at 08:30am immediately behind the engineers who had cleared the mines.

After the successful landing and treatment of immediate casualties, including a case of acute appendicitis, he was then directed to 21st Army Group headquarters where he was employed as a GP for the HQ personnel.

He conducted a daily surgery and treated their day-to-day illnesses. In particular he had to treat Field Marshall Montgomery with the new “wonder drug”, Penicillin, and maintained that the success of his treatment was vital to the Allies’ progress across Europe.

After VE-Day he was promoted to Major and posted to Holland, dealing with malnutrition and its consequences amongst the citizens. Six months later he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in command of the British Military Hospital in Jhansi, India, fighting off malaria and snake bites. He remained there until returning to the UK to be demobbed in 1946.

During the war, Wallace married Margaret Balnave, whom he had known since schooldays. After the war they settled back in Paisley and raised a family of four.

Professionally, he decided on a career in obstetrics and gynaecology. He acquired the degrees of MRCOG, FRCS and then FRCOG. With the arrival of the NHS in 1948 he was appointed consultant gynaecologist in the Western Infirmary and consultant obstetrician in the Professorial Unit at Rottenrow. He was also appointed honorary clinical lecturer by the university.