Walker, Alexander Percy (b 1916 : medical graduate and general practitioner : University of Glasgow, Scotland)

Alexander Percy Walker was born on the 2nd July, 1916 at Campbellfield, Kilwinning Road, Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the son of Thomas Campbell Walker, from Walker's Chemical Works in Irvine (later to become part of ICI at the base in Ardeer).When aged ten Percy was sent to Cambusdoon Preparatory School in Alloway, Ayr, and then moved on to Shrewsbury School, England, aged fourteen. He succeeded in obtaining his School Certificate and gained his University Entrance Certificate. Percy began at the University of Glasgow, Scotland in the Autumn of 1934 studying medicine. In his first year he took classes in Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany. He then studied Anatomy and Physiology, before going on to examine Pathology, Materia Medica and Surgery. In his fourth year he studied Medical Jurisprudence and Public Health, and finally he undertook classes in Surgery, Medicine and Midwifery. Percy qualified with MBChB on the 3rd September 1939, the same day that war broke out in Europe.

Whilst studying at University, Alexander Percy Walker was also keenly involved in many sporting activities such as golf and tennis; his greatest sporting achivement came in the University annual High Jump competition, which he won four times during his five years there.

After qualifying Percy became a Houseman in the skin wards of the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, before going to London and signing up to the Royal Navy. Percy then became a Temporary Acting Surgeon Lieutenant RNVR. The first ship that he served upon was HMS GARTH, which he was on board from June 1940 until August 1941. After serving on various other naval ships, Percy ended up in Southern India as he had been studying tropical diseases and hygiene, and served as a doctor to the RAF squadron teams in April 1944.

When the war ceased in 1945, Percy enrolled in a scheme for post-graduate studies for returning Medical Officers in Glasgow. He attended various courses and completed rounds in the Western Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. Percy was then offered a temporary locum job in a General Practice in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, before moving on to the Samaritan Hospital in Glasgow, which had been purpose built for gynaecology cases. After this Percy became a House Surgeon at the Ayrshire Central Maternity Hospital in Irvine and from there got a job as a General Practitioner within a surgery in Irvine with Dr Gibson and Dr Taylor. Once the NHS began on the 4th July 1948 Percy relocated to Ayr where he and a partner set up their own General Practitioner's. The surgery grew and is today known as the ' Tam's Brig Surgery.'

Percy retired in 1981 to spend more time with his wife, Aileen Gerrard Digby, whom he met during the war when she was serving as a Surgeon Lieutenant in the Navy. They married on the 20th June 1946 and had four children, one of whom tragically died in 1988.

From the guide to the Papers of Dr Alexander Percy Walker, b 1916, medical graduate and general practitioner, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1932-2002, (Glasgow University Archives Service)