James Churchill Dunn (24 February 1871 – 30 March 1955) was a British medical officer during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and author. In 1897, Dunn had gained an M.D. at Edinburgh University. He is known for his memoir ''The War the Infantry Knew'', first published in 1938.

Early life

Dunn was born in 1871 in Churchill, near

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in New Zealand, although his father's family were originally Scottish and came from

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

in Lanarkshire. His parents were killed in the

Te Kooti's War Te Kooti's War was among the last of the New Zealand Wars, the series of 19th-century conflicts in New Zealand between the Māori people, Māori and the colonising European settlers. It was fought in the Gisborne District, East Coast region and ...

, a conflict between the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and European settlers, shortly after he was born and he was sent back to Scotland to be raised by his aunts. He was educated at Hamilton Academy, Glasgow Academy, and Clifton Bank School, St Andrews before going on to study medicine at Edinburgh University in 1888, He was awarded MB, CM in 1893, after some time also spent studying in Leipzig and Vienna. He later gained an M.D. at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

, with his thesis on adenoids. He moved to London to practice medicine in a number of hospitals.

Military career

Dunn enlisted in December 1899, volunteering for the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

as a trooper in the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry where he served for over a year, gaining a

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military ...

for bravery. Towards the end of the war he served briefly as a civil surgeon with the army in South Africa, before returning to his medical career in London. At the outbreak of World War I, aged forty three, Dunn again volunteered.

World War I

Dunn, who had previously served in South Africa, was Regimental Medical Officer for the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

during World War I, and is mentioned in the memoirs of both

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

and

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...

, who both also served with the same regiment. Dunn wrote of his official role that: "The first duty of a battalion medical officer in War is to discourage the evasion of duty ... not seldom against one's better feelings, sometimes to the temporary hurt of the individual, but justice to all other men as well as discipline demands it." Dunn's memoir, which includes material that he solicited from others with whom he served, was originally published anonymously, in a private limited edition, and has been described as "a magnificent tour de force, the length of three ordinary books"London Review of Books, vol 9 no 17 p 26
/ref> The work includes Captain C. I. "Buffalo Bill" Stockwell's account of the Christmas truce of 1914, which describes the resumption of hostilities as follows: "At 8.30 I fired three shots in the air and put up a flag with "Merry Christmas" on it, and I climbed on the parapet. He he Germansput up a sheet with "Thank you" on it, and the German Captain appeared on the parapet. We both bowed and saluted and got down into our respective trenches, and he fired two shots in the air, and the War was on again."

Bibliography

*''The War the Infantry Knew 1914–1919: A Chronicle of Service in France and Belgium''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, J C 1955 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Medical Corps officers 1871 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Participants of the Christmas truce of 1914 British Army personnel of the Second Boer War