Staff in an operating theatre of No 16 Australian General Hospital, Macleod, Vic. Senior surgeon ...

Staff in an operating theatre of No 16 Australian General Hospital, Macleod, Vic. Senior surgeon Major Richard Horace Gibbs is third from left. The other staff members are unidentified. At the outbreak of the First World War Gibbs was residing and working as a practitioner and surgeon at Colac, Vic. As a civilian he became involved in securing recruits for active service in the AIF and conducting medical examinations of volunteers. Richard Gibb's two sons both enlisted for service in the AIF. Lieutenant Richard Horace Maconochie (Mac) Gibbs MC, was killed in action on 19 July 1916 at Fleurbaix, France, aged 23. 154 Corporal John Harbinger Gibbs, Adminstration Headquarters, died of illness at his home in Colac, Vic, on 13 October 1917, after being repatriated to Australia from England. Following the loss of his two sons Richard Horace Gibbs gave up his practice and devoted his work to the medical care of sick and wounded soldiers who had returned to Australia. He was gazetted a Major in the AIF and appointed Senior Surgeon at No 16 Australian General Hospital. Maj Gibbs was killed in a tram accident in Melbourne in July 1919.