Dr Phoebe Chapple: The first woman doctor to win the Military Medal
30 June 2009 by Craig Blanch. Collection, Collection Highlights, From the collection, News, Personal Stories, First World War, Heraldry, military medal, People, Western Front, women in war. Comments (7)
Phoebe Chapple was always going to be someone special. She grew up in a family of high achievers. Apart from her father, Frederic Chapple, who was headmaster at Prince Alfred College Adelaide, five of her seven siblings held university degrees: Alfred a lecturer in engineering at St John’s University Cambridge; Ernest, another Cambridge graduate at Jesus University and president of the Fresher Debating Society before taking up a position in Rangoon, Burma; Harold a surgeon at Guy’s Hospital in London; Marian an arts graduate from the University of Adelaide; and Fred, another doctor. However, Phoebe stood apart even in such accomplished company.
