Norval 'Pat' Dooley
| Norval Henry Dooley | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Pat" |
| Born |
3 October 1893 Bendigo, Victoria |
| Died | 1978 Melbourne |
| Allegiance |
 Australia
|
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1931 1940–1943 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
Norval Henry "Pat" Dooley (3 October 1893 – 1978) was an Australian Army officer and leading solicitor. His service at Gallipoli and in France, and his courtship of nurse Olive Haynes was portrayed in the 2014 ABC Television miniseries ANZAC Girls.
Dooley was born in Bendigo, but his parents, Mr and Mrs W.H. Dooley, later moved the family, which included a sister, Beryl, to Ivanhoe, Victoria. Dooley attended the University of Melbourne, where he studied Law. In 1914, in his third year, Dooley entered residence at Trinity College, where he was a successful athlete. He competed regularly in walking events for the Melbourne University Athletics Club (MUAC), and in 1917, one newspapaper described him as "the well-known and popular M.U.A.C. walker". In 1914, he was selected for the One Mile Walk for the Victorian team to compete at the Australasian Athletics Championships. A year later, when the Melbourne University Athletic Club Championships were run in May 1915, it was noted that:
Secretarial cares sat lightly on Messrs. N.H. Dooley and W.R. Jewell. Each was prominent in the racing, and secured a championship. The former won the mile walk in good time, and has also to be congratulated on recently securing the degree of Bachelor of Laws and Literature.
Dooley and his teammate P.M. Hamilton were sent as University delegates to the Victorian Amateur Athletics Association annual meeting in March, to present a resolution passed by the University Sports Union in February 1915 that during the War, "Sports should not be suspended, but should be played for competitive exercise only; and … no premiership or pennant honors should be awarded during the 1916 season".
When Dooley graduated in May 1915, he had been intending on studying theology at the Trinity College Theological School, possibly with a view to ordination. However, having earlier been rejected for war service due to his poor eyesight (he wore spectacles his whole life), on 7 July 1915 he was re-examined and passed as fit for service. His eyesight is perhaps why he was not originally given duties on the front line. He enlisted as a private in the Australian Army Medical Corps, and was assigned to the No. 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, which dealt with the wounded from the Gallipoli Campaign.
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