Portrait of Legge during his service with the Australian Army

John Williamson Legge, better known as Jack Legge (3 April 1917 – 29 October 1996),[1] was an Australian biochemist and communist activist. He is best known for his work testing the effects of mustard gas on Australian troops in tropical conditions during World War II.

History

Legge was born at 18 Beaver Street, East Malvern, Victoria the only child of Congregationalist Rev. George Alexander Williamson Legge (1871 – 22 March 1931)[2] and his second[3]: 100  wife Florence Legge, née Laver.[4] He was educated at Geelong College and the University of Melbourne, completing his BSc in absentia in 1938.[5]

Shortly before his graduation, he moved to Sydney to work under Dr "Rudi" Lemberg at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research under a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) studying blood pigment metabolism.[6] Their research resulted in their successful book Hematin Compounds and Bile Pigments being published in 1949.[7]

As early as 1939, Legge was thinking seriously about air-raid precautions, including gas attacks on civilians.[8] In July 1939, he became a founding member of the Australian Association of Scientific Workers (AASW). This organisation, formed as a grassroots and industry-focussed alternative to the existing scientific societies, was disbanded in 1949 as a result of political attacks founded in Cold War hysteria.[9] From 1942 to 1946 Legge worked with the Australian Chemical Warfare Research & Experimental Section (later known as the 1st Field Trials Company, Royal Australian Engineers)[10] on research into protective clothing and other aspects of defence against chemical warfare attacks in tropical conditions. This included physiological research on the effects of mustard gas trials on Australian Defence Force volunteers in Townsville, North Brook Island, Proserpine and Mission Beach. Legge and a fellow biochemist (later Prof. Sir) Hugh Ennor designed and oversaw the construction of a 100 cubic metres (3,500 cu ft) stainless steel temperature-controlled gas chamber.[6] Legge described the work as "grisly" but necessary, because it was known that the Japanese armed forces had large stocks of this gas, and that tropical heat and humidity would render it more effective in use than it had been on the Western Front in World War I.[5]: 60  In later life he supported claims for compensation by those volunteers who suffered chronic illness that may been a result of those trials.[6] This included the official photographer of the project, who developed severe chronic respiratory problems owing to his occupational exposure to the gas, from which he later died.[11] The 1989 documentary film Keen as Mustard documented these events.

Legge was granted a fellowship which enabled him to spend two years in England, working at the Molteno Institute, Cambridge University under Professor David Keilin. He moved his family to the Melbourne suburb of Greensborough when he was hired by Victor Trikojus as a biochemistry lecturer at the University of Melbourne in 1950.[12] Trikojus, a conservative, maintained his public support of Legge, a communist, throughout his tenure and especially before his appearance before the Petrov Royal Commission.[5]: 62  In 1960 his area of research was the biochemistry of the hormone secretin.[12] Despite earning the esteem of his colleagues, his obvious passion for teaching, and his flair for research, the highest position Legge achieved was that of senior lecturer. It has been noted that, as for other Australian communists during the cold war, Legge's political beliefs may have adversely affected his career.[13] As one academic noted: "Jack Legge... [was] one of the very few of his academic contemporaries never to be promoted to a professorship."[9]: 19  Legge retired from the university in 1981.

Politics, science and pacifism

Legge joined the Communist Party of Australia in 1935 or 1936 and helped distribute the Tribune at a time when the newspaper was banned.[14][15] In 1946 he was contributing articles on science for the Tribune.[16] He was, in September 1949, a charter member of the Australian Peace Council.[17] In 1955, he was called to appear before the Royal Commission on Espionage in relation to these and other activities he carried out on behalf of the Communist party.[15][12] He denied any espionage or wrongdoing, and was extensively questioned about a meeting with his cousin George Legge who worked for the Department of External Affairs in Canberra at the time.[5]

He wrote for the Communist Party of Australia magazine Australian Left Review:

  • Legge, Jack (1983). "The Earth's Fate (review)". Australian Left Review. p. 59.
  • Legge, Jack. "j. d. bernal (obituary)". Australian Left Review.

A passionate educator, he continued to be a science communicator after his retirement, using his radio program "CR Science" to inform the public about scientific breakthroughs in the mid-1980s.[18]

Family

Legge married fellow Communist Party of Australia member[19] Gertrude Avon Guiterman on 29 June 1940. They had four boys, including educator, author and activist John Michael Legge.[20] Legge's papers are held at the University of Melbourne Archives.[21] Files relating to his appearance before the Royal Commission are held at the National Archives of Australia.[3]

Australian Chemical Warfare Research & Experimental Section

References

  1. ↑ "John Williamson Legge". University of Melbourne. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Personal". Tribune. No. 16, 801. Victoria, Australia. 23 March 1931. p. 7. Retrieved 20 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 "A6119, 19". National Archives of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 658. Victoria, Australia. 25 December 1915. p. 1. Retrieved 20 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Transforming Biology: A History of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Melbourne. Miegunyah Press. 2015. ISBN 9780522867701.
  6. 1 2 3 "Jack Legge". University of Melbourne. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Lemberg, R.; Legge, J.W. (1949). Hematin compounds and bile pigments; their constitution, metabolism, and function. New York: Interscience Publishers.
  8. ↑ "Mr Bruxner and A.R.P." The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 626. New South Wales, Australia. 12 May 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 20 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 Buckley-Moran, Jean (1986). "Australian Scientists and the Cold War" (PDF). In Baker, Ann; Manwell, Clyde; Pugh, Cedric (eds.). Intellectual Suppression: Australian case histories—analysis and responses. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. pp. 11–23. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "Portrait of Jack Legge, a physiologist, who was a civilian scientist, engaged in research with ..." www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "Working with Knowledge - Bridget Goodwin". www.asap.unimelb.edu.au. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 Humphreys, Leonhard Ross (2004). Trikojus: a scientist for interesting times. Carlton, Victoria: Miegunyah Press. ISBN 978-0-522-85095-6.
  13. ↑ Deery, P. (2000). "Scientific Freedom and Post-War Politics: Australia, 1945-1955". Historical Records of Australian Science. 13 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1071/hr0001310001. ISSN 1448-5508.
  14. ↑ "Name of Red Witness Suppressed". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 97, no. 29, 967. South Australia. 30 October 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 8 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. 1 2 "Vol. 76 No. 3948 (12 Oct 1955)". Trove. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Science for the People". Tribune. No. 197. New South Wales, Australia. 15 March 1946. p. 5. Retrieved 20 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ "Australian Peace Council Launched". Tribune. No. 551. New South Wales, Australia. 7 September 1949. p. 5. Retrieved 3 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ "Records of John Williamson Legge (1917 - 1996) - Archival Project". Research Data Australia. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  19. ↑ "Legge, John Williamson (Jack) | The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Legge, David (28 November 2016). "Fierce critic of mainstream economics spoke out against neoliberalism". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Centre, The University of Melbourne eScholarship Reseach. "1 - John Williamson Legge - John Williamson Legge Guide to Records". www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
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