Lot 607

Description

The Colonel John Thomson Medal, undated (first awarded 1997), in burnished pewter (60mm), obverse, three quarters facing bust of Dr Thomson in the uniform of the Principal Medical Officer of the Queensland Defence Force at the time of Australia's Federation in 1901, reverse, badge of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps within a wreath and with a plaque at bottom pantographed, 'Maj M.D.Cobcroft, OAM, RFD/Foundation Donor'; another identical medal, reverse plaque pantographed, 'Maj. Cobcroft/07-12-04'. The first with rim marks at four points where it has been in a stand, otherwise uncirculated and both in felt sachets of issue. (2)

Together with a background history of the medal and also a copy of an article published in PAULATIM - Magazine of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps in 2005. This article, with a preface by Major M.D.Cobcroft, OAM, RFD (Retd), is an edited, readable form of the oration he delivered at the University of Queensland in December 2004 titled, 'The Burma Thailand Railway: Myth, Legend and Reality'.

The Colonel John Thomson Medal, first awarded in 1997, is awarded annually to the John Thomson Orator chosen by the John Thomson Trust Committee within the office of the Triumvirate Committee of the Defence Health Reserves, Victoria Barracks, Brisbane, Queensland. The Colonel John Thomson oration was previously the foremost named oration of the University of Queensland but lapsed many years ago. It was resurrected by a group of officers within the Australian military of which Major Cobcroft OAM, RFD was one.