page_title: Neil Hamilton Fairley
section_title: South West Pacific
hierarchical_section_title: Neil Hamilton Fairley / Second World War / South West Pacific
caption_attribution_description: English: Medical Research Unit in Cairns where volunteers from the Australian Army offer themselves for experiments in the fight against malaria. Private P. B. Johnson QFX61122 replaces adult mosquito cages in racks after the mosquitoes have been infected with malaria and removed for microscopic examination.
context_page_description: Brigadier Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley, KBE, CStJ, FRACP, FRCP, FRCPE, FRS was an Australian physician, medical scientist, and army officer who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from malaria and other diseases.
  A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Fairley joined the Australian Army Medical Corps in 1915. He investigated an epidemic of meningitis that was occurring in Army camps in Australia. While with the 14th General Hospital in Cairo, he investigated schistosomiasis and developed tests and treatments for the disease. In the inter-war period he became renowned as an expert on tropical medicine.
  Fairley returned to the Australian Army during the Second World War as Director of Medicine. He played an important role in the planning for the Battle of Greece, convincing the British Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Archibald Wavell to alter his campaign plan to reduce the danger from malaria. In the South West Pacific Area, Fairley became responsible for co-ordinating the activities of all allied forces in the fight against malaria and other tropical diseases.
context_section_description: With the entry of Japan into the war, Fairley flew to Java in January 1942. Fairley was well aware that Java produced 90% of the world's supply of quinine and that the implications would be serious if Java was lost. He arranged for the purchase of all available stocks of quinine, some 120 long tons (120 t). Fairley was informed that the quinine had been loaded on board two ships. One was never seen again. The other, the SS Klang, reached Fremantle in March. Although 20 long tons (20 t) of quinine was loaded on board, it was apparently unloaded when the ship stopped at Tjilatjap, possibly due to fifth columnists. Thus, none of the shipment reached Australia. Fairley himself departed Java with the I Corps staff on the transport Orcades on 21 February 1942 shortly before Java fell.
  In General Sir Thomas Blamey's reorganisation of the Australian Army in April 1942, Fairley was appointed director of medicine at Allied Land Forces Headquarters (LHQ) in Melbourne. Fairley was soon facing a series of medical emergencies caused by the Kokoda Track campaign. An epidemic of bacillary dysentery was headed off by Fairley's decision to rush all available supplies of sulphaguanadine to New Guinea. On Fairley's advice every man who complained of diarrhoea was given the drug and the epidemic was brought under control in ten days.
  But Fairley's main concern was malaria. Despite the experience with malaria in the Middle East, most of the troops had a poor understanding of anti-malaria precautions and few medical officers had encountered the disease. In combination with critical shortages of drugs and anti-malarial supplies such as netting, insecticides and repellents, the result was a medical disaster. In the 13-week period from 31 October 1942 to 1 January 1943, the Army reported 4,137 battle casualties, but 14,011 casualties from tropical diseases, of which 12,240 were from malaria. The government grimly contemplated disbanding divisions to replace malaria casualties. "Our worst enemy in New Guinea," General Blamey declared, "is not the Nip—it’s the bite."
  This caused Blamey to despatch a medical mission headed by Fairley to the United States and the United Kingdom in September 1942 to present the Army's case for a more adequate and equitable share of anti-malarial supplies. The mission was successful. Fairley was able to secure supplies and expedite the delivery of those that were already on order but held up for lack of shipping or priority. In bringing the problem to the attention of the highest allied military and civil authorities overseas, he lifted the global profile and priority of malaria control measures.
  It was calculated that Allied requirements for atebrin would be 200 long tons (200 t) per annum, of which 50 long tons (51 t) would be manufactured in the United Kingdom and 150 long tons (150 t) in the United States. American production in 1942 was estimated at 60 tons but efforts were soon under way to increase production. The possibility of producing atebrin in Australia was considered, but the drug was complicated to synthesise and required little shipping space, although steps were taken to produce mosquito repellent. As in the Middle East, the Army relied on a combination of quinine, atebrin and plasmoquine (QAP) to cure malaria. The United States and United Kingdom agreed to each produce two tons of plasmoquine each per annum. The requested drugs and supplies began arriving in December 1942.
  As "one of the reasons for the lamentable record in malaria control in 1942 and early 1943 was the absence of medical authority at the level of the theatre commander's headquarters", Fairley suggested that there be a body responsible for co-ordinating the activities of all allied forces in the South West Pacific Area. General Blamey took the matter up with the General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander. MacArthur, who had himself suffered an attack of malaria back in 1904 (and a serious relapse the next year), created the Combined Advisory Committee on Tropical Medicine, Hygiene and Sanitation with Colonel Fairley as its chair
caption: Malaria research at the Medical Research Unit in Cairns
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