Lieutenant Colonel Albert CoatesPrint Page 
The sculpture commemorates Albert Coates, a doctor who was a Prisoner of War of the Japanese during World War Two.
In 1941 Coates was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and Senior Surgeon to the Second Australian Imperial Force in Malaya. Following the Japanese landings on the Malay Peninsula, Coates moved with the 2nd / 10th Australian General Hospital to Singapore. A few days before the city surrendered he was a part of a group ordered to Java. Their convoy was bombed; Coates was rescued and reached Sumatra. There he treated casualties and declined opportunities to leave.
He became a prisoner of the Japanese and in May 1942 was sent to Burma. Conditions were deplorable, the treatment brutal, and the death rate enormous. In 1944 he became responsible for a major prisoners’ hospital in Thailand.
After the war Coates returned to Melbourne and resumed his distinguished medical career. In 1953 he was made a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and in 1955 received a knighthood.
Location
| Address: | Sturt & Dawson Streets, Median Strip, Ballarat, 3350 |
|---|---|
| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.561547 Long: 143.853939 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Sculpture |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Military |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 03-September-1939 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 15-August-1945 |
| Artist: | Louis Laumen (Yarraville, VIC) |
| Monument Manufacturer: | Fundere Fine Art Foundry |
| Link: | http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/adbonli… |
Dedication
Albert Coates
Colonel Coates stood out...he not only saved lives...he saved reason...he was a man among men."
