David Gifford Croll

Colonel David Gifford Croll, (14 November 1885 – 4 May 1948) was an eminent doctor from Queensland, Australia, who served in the First and Second World Wars. He is remembered for his service at Gallipoli and in the Middle East during the First World War.

Early life Born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 14 November 1885, Croll emigrated to New Zealand with his parents before coming to Australia, aged 13. He completed his medical training at the University of Sydney, and while studying spent five years as part of the Sydney University Scouts, attaining the rank of warrant officer. Back in Queensland, Croll married a local Queensland nurse, Marian Winifred (Winnie) Payne, on 13 April 1912 at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Brisbane. Both were employed at the Brisbane Hospital. After the evacuation of the peninsula he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and given command of the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance as it supported operations in Egypt and Palestine. Croll was in charge of medical services and the logistics required to treat and retrieve wounded men under fire, in open warfare.

Croll's extensive collection of personal and official diaries, reports, memoranda and photographs are held in the collections of the State Library of Queensland.