MARTIN, ARTHUR ANDERSON (1875-1916) was a son of Thomas Martin (of the New Zealand railways) and was educated at the Lumsden school and the Lawrence district high school. Passing the civil service examination, he became a cadet in the Government Life Insurance department, but left the following year (1894) to study medicine at Edinburgh University. After a brilliant course, he graduated M.D. and served as a medical officer in the South African war. His experiences were described in articles in the British Medical Journal. Martin then practised at Palmerston North. In 1914 he visited the United States and Great Britain with the intention of establishing a radium institute in New Zealand, but, the war breaking out, he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in France, and was several times mentioned in despatches. His book, A Surgeon in Khaki (1915) is one of the best descriptions of field service published. On returning to New Zealand Martin was one of the commission appointed to investigate the outbreak of cerebro-spinal meningitis at military camps. He then returned to active service (as major N.Z.M.C.) with the New Zealand division, and died of wounds in France on 17 Sep 1916.

Studholme; Martin, op. cit.; N.Z. Times, 21 Sep 1916.

Reference: Volume 2, page 31

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