Dr J. J. Brownlee dies, aged 77

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33063, 2 November 1972, Page 16

Dr J. J. Brownlee dies, aged 77

A distinguished New Zealand plastic surgeon who did outstanding work in the treatment of servicemen badly wounded or burnt during the Second World War died in Christchurch yesterday. He was Dr Joseph John Brownlee, aged 77, who commanded New Zealand’s first plastic surgical unit at Burwood Hospital.

Dr Brownlee spent a year in Britain early in the war as one of the 12 operating surgeons in one of the. plastic surgical teams organised by the noted New Zealand plastic surgeon, Sir Harold Gillies. He did plastic surgical work with the 2nd N.Z.E.F. in Egypt for four months and returned to Christchurch in 1942.

When the plastic surgical unit was established in 1943, Dr Brownlee was appointed to command it with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Nearly all the patients were soldiers from the Middle East or airmen from the Pacific, but a few civilian patients were treated by arrangement with the North Canterbury Hospital Board and by permission of the Director-General of Medical Services.

One of the most remarkable examples of plastic surgery performed by Dr Brownlee and his small staff concerned an R.N.Z.A.F. pilot who was very badly burned on the hands, legs and face when he landed an aircraft in flames while serving in New Zealand early in the war. His hands were in the flames while he held the control column, and later the fingers were literally fused together. The skin was replaced in several different ways—for a long time the pilot’s hands were growing to his stomach, then the fingers had to be separated, covered with new skin, and new finger webs made. After a number of operations extending over several months the flying officer was able to celebrate by swinging a golf club. Eventually the function of his hands was completely restored.

Dr Brownlee qualified as a doctor in 1926. Before the war he was a surgeon on the staff of the Christchurch Hospital. He did surgery in England for more than seven years, returning to New Zealand in 1935 and taking up his hospital appointment in 1936. In 1944 Dr Brownlee relinquished his command of the plastic surgery unit when it came under civilian control. At the request of the North Canterbury Hospital Board he returned to the staff of the Christchurch Hospital as senior specialist surgeon. In 1947 Dr Brownlee was elected a member of the North Canterbury Hospital Board and he remained a member until 1956.

For several years he was chairman of the building committee during the start of

the construction of Princess Margaret Hospital.

A man of strong opinions, Dr Brownlee clashed frequently with the late Miss M. B. Howard at board meetings, but they generally ended by agreeing on questions which concerned them deeply. And the disagreements did not extend beyond the boardroom.

Until he retired in 1966, Dr Brownlee was in private practice as a plastic surgeon. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Dr Brownlee is survived by his wife, a son (Dr J. J« Brownlee), and a daughter, Mrs T. W. Milliken.