Herbert Gallagher

Who is Herbert Gallagher?

Dr Herbert William Gallagher FRCS was a Northern Irish medical professional, politician and World War II Royal Army Medical Corps physician.

He attended Methodist College, Belfast and Queen's University Belfast, where he studied medicine, matriculating in 1939. At the onset of World War II he volunteered for the Royal Army's Medical Corps.

In 1940, he was travelling from Northern Ireland to England when the ship struck a mine outside Liverpool. Using his medical skills he tended to the casualties. His war service took him to Egypt and India. He married a nursing sister from the same unit. After being demobbed he trained as a surgeon at Belfast City Hospital. After the National Health Service was created, he became a Consultant at Banbridge and Newtownards Hospitals.