Prof. Herbert Gilles

Franco Grima, Group captain RAF (Retd), writes:

Herbert Gillies will always be remembered as a gentleman with a charming personality by many members of the medical profession and by his many friends all over the world.

Prof. Gilles was born in Egypt and trained in Malta. He lived abroad for most of his productive  years but he remained proud to be Maltese and he was always happy to visit our shores when his many duties allowed him to.

For over 20 years he was dean and Professor of Tropical Medicine at Liverpool University where he made substantial contributions to the study of hookworm, schistosomiasis and malaria. He wrote extensively on these subjects, 150 papers and several books. He was tireless in his travels as adviser to the World Health Organisation and to several governments.

As officer commanding at the RAF Institute of Community and Occupational Medicine it was a pleasure for me to invite him to RAF Halton to lecture to aircrew, who could be called upon to serve in tropical regions, on a one-day course  on tropical diseases. It was informative and entertaining to listen to his varied experiences  at the RAMC College in Millbank, London.

Condolences to his children Michael, Robert, Marisa, Anthony and their spouses.