Most decorated · 14 medals and honours, 1 for gallantry
Major General Sir McGavin
Donald McGavin was an English-born Wellington surgeon who served as a civilian surgeon in the South African War and, in the First World War, commanded No. 1 NZ Stationary Hospital and then ran the medical services of the New Zealand Division. He won the DSO for his work evacuating the wounded at Messines, was made CMG, and in 1921 became the first New Zealander knighted for services to medicine. By the counting rule he holds 10 medals and honours, one of them for gallantry.
14medals and honours
1of them for gallantry
His medals and honours
Won for gallantry
Order or honour
Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
June 1917 (Messines); published 16 August 1917 · Messines, Belgium · Lieutenant Colonel (temporary Colonel), Assistant Director of Medical Services, New Zealand Division
Gazetted: London Gazette supplement 30234, 16 August 1917, p.8354 (read; the Edinburgh Gazette of 20 August 1917 p.1648 carries the same entry, seen in a search listing)
McGavin, who had commanded No. 1 NZ Stationary Hospital since 1915, became the New Zealand Division's chief medical staff officer (ADMS) in October 1916. For the Messines offensive in June 1917 he planned the evacuation of the wounded in close detail. The Gazette citation says the successful clearance of casualties was due to the thoroughness of his preparations and his attention to the smallest details, and that he went into the advanced area at great personal risk to encourage the stretcher-bearers and oversee the removal of the wounded, 'setting a splendid example to all ranks'. Te Ara calls his role crucial. The citation used the wording 'conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty', so the DSO counts as his gallantry award. He was a Colonel by this time and later added Passchendaele, Bapaume and St Quentin-Cambrai to his service.
Te Ara dates the decoration to 1917; the Gazette text above is the citation. Cenotaph gives 16 August 1917, matching the Gazette supplement.
Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette supplement 30234 p.8354; Te Ara DNZB; Online Cenotaph C36397
Every other medal and honour (13)
Queen's South Africa Medal1900-1901 · Natal, South AfricaEarned as a newly qualified civilian surgeon who spent about eight months in Natal working with the Royal Army Medical Corps during the South African War. Civil surgeons employed with the army were eligible for this…1914-1915 Star1915 · Egypt, then SalonikaQualified by service overseas in 1915: he sailed with the hospital on 21 May 1915, which received Gallipoli casualties at Port Said and then served at Salonika.Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)1919 New Year Honours (1 January 1919) · France and FlandersMade an additional Companion of the Order in the New Year Honours of 1919, in the dominion-forces list, in recognition of his war service as a senior medical officer. The Gazette gives no individual citation. Te Ara…British War Medal 1914-201915-1919 · Egypt, Salonika, France and FlandersQualified by overseas service with the Expeditionary Force 1915-19.Victory Medal (with oak-leaf emblem)1915-1919 · Egypt, Salonika, France and FlandersQualified by the same overseas service; the oak leaf on the ribbon marks his mentions in despatches.Knight Bachelor3 June 1921 (King's Birthday Honours); letters patent 25 June 1921 · WellingtonKnighted in 1921 as Director-General of Medical Services for the New Zealand military forces; sources describe it as the first knighthood in New Zealand awarded for services to medicine. He was by then also running…King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 19356 May 1935 · WellingtonCommemorative medal for the 25th anniversary of the King's accession; he appears on the New Zealand recipients list as 'Sir Donald McGavin, C.M.G., D.S.O., Wellington'.Commander of the Order of St John (CStJ)1 January 1946 · WellingtonPromoted Commander (Brother) of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in the New Year list of 1946, in recognition of his long work as surgeon-in-chief of the St John Ambulance Brigade.Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration (Cenotaph: 'Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration')Not known · New ZealandListed by the Online Cenotaph only.Listed on the Online Cenotaph, not yet confirmedVolunteer Officers' Decoration (VD) (Cenotaph entry)Not known · New ZealandListed by the Online Cenotaph only.Listed on the Online Cenotaph, not yet confirmedNew Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal (Cenotaph entry)Not known · New ZealandListed by the Online Cenotaph only.Listed on the Online Cenotaph, not yet confirmedNew Zealand Territorial Service Medal (Cenotaph entry)Not known · New ZealandListed by the Online Cenotaph only.Listed on the Online Cenotaph, not yet confirmedMentioned in Despatches6 December 1916 to 31 December 1918 · France and Flanders (and earlier Egypt/Salonika)Four mentions in Haig's despatches, in December 1916, June 1917, December 1917 and December 1918. I read his name on all four Gazette pages (styled 'Lt.-Col. D. J.' in 1916, 'Lt.-Col. (temp. Col.) D. J., M.D.,…
His story
Born in Kent
Son of a draper, educated at King Edward's school and Mason College in Birmingham, then the London Hospital; qualified LRCP 1899, MB 1900 (gold medal) and MD 1901.
Source: Te Ara DNZB
South African War
Served about eight months in Natal as a civilian surgeon with the Royal Army Medical Corps.
Source: Te Ara DNZB
Wellington surgeon and volunteer officer
Registered in New Zealand in April 1903, married Mary Allan Chapple, took the FRCS in 1904 and set up as a surgeon in Wellington. Joined the volunteer medical service as surgeon captain, transferred to No. 5 Company, NZ Field Hospital and Bearer Corps in 1906 and became a major.
Source: Te Ara DNZB; Online Cenotaph
Sails for Egypt
Embarked on the hospital ship Marama as a lieutenant colonel commanding No. 1 NZ Stationary Hospital, which received Gallipoli casualties at Port Said.
Source: Online Cenotaph; Te Ara DNZB
Salonika and the Somme front
The hospital moved to Salonika, where several of its staff were lost when the transport Marquette was torpedoed in October 1915; it rejoined the New Zealand Division at El Moascar and followed it to France, setting up at Amiens.
Source: Te Ara DNZB; Lyttelton Times 3 June 1916
ADMS and Messines
Became ADMS of the New Zealand Division in October 1916 and organised the evacuation of the wounded at Messines in June 1917 (DSO, promoted Colonel 29 June 1917).
Source: Te Ara DNZB; London Gazette 30234
Passchendaele to Le Quesnoy
Served through Passchendaele, Bapaume and St Quentin-Cambrai, and was with the Division when it took Le Quesnoy in November 1918. CMG on 1 January 1919; recalled to New Zealand in January 1919.
Source: Te Ara DNZB; London Gazette 31092
Director-General of Medical Services
Head of the NZ military medical service and medical administrator of the Pensions Department; knighted 1921, major general 1923, retired to the reserve in December 1924.
Source: Te Ara DNZB; London Gazette 32461
Surgeon and medical leader
Consulting surgeon at Wellington Hospital, a founder of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in New Zealand, Medical Council chairman, St John surgeon-in-chief (CStJ 1946); died in Wellington on 8 May 1960.
Source: Te Ara DNZB
Rank and insignia
The ranks he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.
Surgeon Captain1902-1906 · Union Rifle VolunteersShoulder strap: three pipsMajor1906 · NZ Medical CorpsShoulder strap: crownLieutenant Colonel1914-1915 · hospital commanderShoulder strap: crown and one pipColonel1917 · temporary at 1 June 1917; confirmed per Cenotaph 29 June 1917Shoulder strap: crown and two pipsBrigadier General / Brigadier1919-1923Shoulder strap: crown and three pipsMajor General1923 (Te Ara); Cenotaph says 1920Shoulder strap: crossed sword and baton, one pip
His ships
HMHS MaramaSailed from Wellington 21 May 1915Cenotaph note mentions a later transfer to the Moldavia (from the Evening Post list); not checked.Transport MarquetteNot his shipSunk by torpedo in the Aegean in October 1915 carrying members of his hospital's unit; several were lost.
Afterwards
McGavin returned to New Zealand in January 1919 and headed the army medical service as Director-General of Medical Services until 1924, also running the medical side of the Pensions Department. He was knighted in 1921, promoted major general before retiring to the reserve in December 1924, and was honorary surgeon to the Governor-General from 1920 to 1924.
Back in surgical practice at Wellington Hospital, he helped found the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in New Zealand and served as secretary of its New Zealand committee for twenty years. He chaired the New Zealand Branch of the British Medical Association and the Medical Council, served on the Prisons Board and the War Pensions Medical Appeal Board, and was surgeon-in-chief of the St John Ambulance Brigade. During the Second World War he sat on the medical advisory committee to the Minister of Defence. His wife died in 1955; he died at Wellington on 8 May 1960, survived by a son who was a surgeon in Leicester.
This is the Service Record sign as we would make it from his record: his rank, name, regiment, number and date of embarkation. The medals on the sign are worked out automatically, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.
The Service Record
Photograph
We haven’t hosted a photograph here
Rather than copy someone else’s image onto our own site, we’d rather send you to see it where it’s properly held: his full record at the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph.
WW1 service confirmed: commanded No. 1 NZ Stationary Hospital (May 1915-1916), ADMS NZ Division from October 1916, DSO for Messines. English-born (Chatham, Kent) but resident in New Zealand from 1903 and served in the NZEF, so he is a New Zealander of that war by residence and service; it should be noted he was not NZ-born.
TOTAL: 10 items counted (DSO, CMG, Knight Bachelor, CStJ, MiD x4 as one, QSA, 1914-15 Star, BWM, Victory, Jubilee Medal). The Online Cenotaph lists 14 entries; the four not counted are Colonial Auxiliary Forces Decoration, Volunteer Officer's Decoration, NZ Long and Efficient Service Medal and NZ Territorial Service Medal. No source I could read confirms them and he is not styled V.D. in 1935 or 1946 sources; the Cenotaph's CAFD and VD entries are the same family of decoration. On face value the total would be 14 (13 if CAFD and VD are merged).
QSA is listed only by the Cenotaph (no medal roll or clasps seen); included because civil surgeons with the army in Natal qualified and Te Ara documents the service. If excluded the total would be 9.
Birthplace conflict: Chatham (Te Ara, Wright St Clair, Wikipedia), Rochester (Press obituary 1960), Birmingham (a secondary summary); the Cenotaph note 'son of John and Jessie McGavin of Tokomaru Bay' appears to come from a 1915 newspaper and conflicts with an English birth.
Dates conflict: CMG 1918 (Te Ara) against 1 January 1919 (Gazette); CStJ 1945 (Te Ara, Wright St Clair) against 1 January 1946 (Gazette); major general 1923 (Te Ara) against 1920 (Cenotaph last-rank field); DGMS 1919-24 (Te Ara) against 1919-23 (Cenotaph). Press obituary says age 84 at death; birth 19 Aug 1876 makes him 83.
Cenotaph lists a Gallipoli campaign, but the hospital served at Port Said, Salonika and later France; he did not serve on the peninsula as far as Te Ara shows.
No foreign decoration or WW2 award found. No Coronation Medal 1937 or 1953 evidence found; not counted.
