Charles Littlejohn

Charles Littlejohn was born in New Zealand and educated at Nelson Boys College, where his father was a headmaster. The family moved to Australia when Littlejohn was 15, and he eventually went to Melbourne University, from where he won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship in 1909 and became a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford.

During his time at Oxford, Littlejohn became a two-time rowing Blue and was a member of the 1911 and 1912 winning crews, the latter being the race in which both boats sank. In 1912 and 1913, he was also in the New College four that won the Stewards’ Challenge Cup at Henley. In the second of those years, New College won after their German opponents, Maintzer Ruder-Verein, were disqualified for not steering properly and forcing New College off course. As a member of the New College eights, Littlejohn won a silver medal at the 1912 Olympics.

During World War I, Littlejohn served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Towards the end of 1915 he was wounded in France before returning to action in Salonika and France again. Littlejohn was awarded the Military Cross (MC) and Croix du Guerre, and in 1946 was honoured with the CBE.

Littlejohn left Oxford with a diploma in anthropology, with distinction. He became a surgeon and worked at Bart’s Hospital in London until returning to Australia after the War. He was a surgeon at the Melbourne Children’s Hospital between 1921-24 and then at the Royal Melbourne Hospital until 1933, when he was made the hospital’s honorary orthopedic surgeon.

A keen all-round sportsman, Littlejohn enjoyed playing tennis and golf in his spare time, and during his time at Bart’s was a member of their rugby first XV.