Dr Norman Mawby - obituaries - Telegraph Drawing of Dr Norman Mawby in Malta, by Leslie Colet Mawby served with two field ambulance teams, the 15th and 161st, and was promoted to captain, by 1943 exercising senior responsibilities at 90 General Hospital Mtarfa as deputy to the director of medical services, Col William Morrison. The malnourished population was prey to scabies and diphtheria, among other diseases. When one of the hospital's civilian workers brought in his daughter to see him, Mawby immediately recognised polio. The girl lived, but was ever after to walk with a limp. Mawby then performed a fleeting but vital service when, with pressure on Malta somewhat relieved by the victory in November 1942 at El Alamein, George VI was able to visit the island. The King, who in April 1942 had honoured the islanders" bravery by awarding Malta the George Cross, spent 10 hours touring it on June 20 1943. "At about 9am on that morning I was on duty when the telephone rang," Mawby recorded. "After taking the message Colonel Morrison turned to me saying: "The King is visiting today and is not well. You had better be prepared to attend him if he needs medical attention. Mawby toured the island at the King's side At about this time the war artist Leslie Cole, also visiting Malta, drew Mawby's portrait. Norman Earl Mawby was born on April 1 1912 and educated at Birkenhead School and Liverpool University before qualifying as a doctor in 1936. He sailed to Malta on July 13 1941 with the convoy WS9C (known as "Operation Substance"), which came under torpedo attack that damaged the destroyer Fearless, part of the Royal Navy escort. Mawby watched as a Stuka dive-bomber attacked his merchant vessel, Port Chalmers, then observed a torpedo pass under her hull and explode in the next ship. His wife, Elizabeth, had remained at home with their small son and was expecting twins. When the news reached her that her husband's convoy had been torpedoed she went into premature labour and lost the babies. After the war Norman Mawby returned to medical practice, as a GP at West Kirby, Wirral. He and his wife had a daughter, but their son, David, then studying Medicine, was killed in a car crash in his twenties. His wife also predeceased him, and he is survived by his daughter. Dr Norman Mawby, born April 1 1912, died November 28 2013