Major Carlile Herbert Schneider

Carlile Herbert Schneider was born in Melbourne on 19 April 1929 to Beatrice Kathleen Maude (née McKay) and Erol Videon Schneider. Graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1952, he qualified as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1960 and worked for the Royal Children's Hospital and the University of Melbourne.

Schneider applied for a commission as a medical officer in the part-time Citizen Military Forces (CMF) on 20 August 1964. His application was accepted and, commissioned as a captain (provisionally) in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, he was posted to the 6th Field Ambulance from 15 December 1964. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services (CMF) at Southern Command in December 1966, promoted to temporary major in May 1967, and deployed to Papua and New Guinea on temporary full-time duty from 9 November to 2 December 1968. He returned to the 6th Field Ambulance with the substantive rank of major in March 1970.

In early 1971, Schneider volunteered for a period of full-time service and posting as a specialist surgeon with the 1st Australian Field Hospital in Vung Tau, South Vietnam. A shortage of specialist medical capabilities among the Australian forces in Vietnam had led to a scheme whereby reservist medical officers, like Schneider, were posted to the 1st Australian Field Hospital on three-month rotations. Schneider commenced full-time duty on 21 January 1971 and, following pre-deployment training, emplaned from Sydney for Saigon on 3 March. He served in Vietnam from 4 March to 2 June. On a number of occasions during his deployment, the 1st Australian Field Hospital received large numbers of casualties and Schneider and the other surgeons had to operate for extended periods under considerable stress.

Following his return from Vietnam, Schneider was appointed Officer Commanding 3rd Field Hygiene Company on 1 July 1971. He died just over a year later, on 15 October 1972, due to stresses related to his service in Vietnam.