Colonel Charles Douglas Donald CBE KStJ ED
Sixth Commissioner of St John Victoria District, 1959-1966
Douglas Donald joined St John in 1946 after a distinguished military career. He had served with 2/1st Field Ambulance in Libya, Greece, Crete, Syria and Ceylon before repatriation to Australia and ongoing CMF role as Assistant Director of Army Medical Services, Southern Command, with the rank of Colonel. In civilian life he was a senior surgeon at Prince Henry’s Hospital and an examiner for the University of Melbourne and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. After twelve years of active St John work, he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner, and a year later became Commissioner. He was invested as a Knight of Grace in the Order of St John in 1963.
The development of Search & Rescue services and the founding of the Douglas Donald Cadet Camp were two major achievements of his time as Commissioner before his promotion to national headquarters as Chief Surgeon in 1966. He became Chief Commissioner in 1968, a post he held until his death in 1979.
