Joseph Espie Dods

Joseph Espie Dods DSO MC ED (1874–1930) was an Australian medical practitioner and soldier.

Robert Dods amassed a sizeable fortune as a merchant in Dunedin, New Zealand, during the gold rush in the 1860s, and retired to Edinburgh, the city of his birth.

As the political situation in South Africa steadily deteriorated in 1899, the Queensland Government offered to send troops to support British interests.

[4] When Mafeking, Kimberley and Ladysmith were invested in October, a contingent of mounted infantry was raised, and Espie was appointed Regimental Medical Officer.

[5] At Sunnyside Espie was specially commended for staying out in the veldt overnight with a wounded officer.

[7] The duties included forensic autopsies, and attendance at judicial executions at Boggo Road Gaol.

In 1912 the expanding Dods family moved to Callander House at the western end of Wickham Terrace, a building which also still survives.

Espie was invited to be the Regimental Medical Officer, and the unit sailed for the Middle East on 21 December.

At Anzac Espie was able to meet up with his half-brother Alexander Marks, who was serving with the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade.

In September he was transferred to No 1 Red Cross Convalescent Home in Alexandria, and at the end of October was well enough to return to Anzac and rejoin his unit.

Back in Egypt Espie was promoted Major with effect from 1 January 1916, and posted as Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services at the headquarters of the 1st Division, which was currently located at Tel-el Kebir.

Although Espie had been discharged from the AIF in 1917, he had not retired from the Australian Military Forces, and remained on the Unattached List until his death in 1930.

Espie's obituaries in the local Press[19] were unanimous in their appreciation of his work and character, and the Medical Journal of Australia[20] applauded his professional standing and personal qualities.