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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by SandyGeorgia 02:35, 19 September 2011 [1].

Rupert Downes

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Rupert Downes (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:42, 26 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Another Australian general of World War II: Rupert Downes. I first encountered him writing the article on Alan Vasey. Unusual in that the article references his biography and the biography refers to the Wikipedia:

Finally, as appropriate in an electronic age and as this book was going to press, a comprehensive short biography of Downes appeared in the on-line [sic] encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. The author, [Hawkeye7], a military historian in Canberra, had posted other biographies of eminent Australian military figures on Wikipedia. Thinking Downes had been neglected, he hoped the entry would draw attention to his achievements. The entry surprised but pleased Downes's family because apart from several easily corrected errors, it presented an accurate summary of his life and career. They were accordingly happy to reflect that his reputation seemed assured.

— Howie–Willis, Surgeon and General, p. 372

Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:42, 26 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Source review - spotchecks not done. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:13, 27 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comments (HJ avoiding his own talk page!) Whisky drinker | HJ's sock 00:19, 4 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  • The Battle of Romani revealed the importance of transportation in an area with few roads leaves the reader scratching their head—it doesn't make a connection with Downes, and doesn't seem to connect with the sentences either side of it. Did the roads (or lack thereof) have soem significant effect on Downes or his work?
  • I'm sure you can find a better phrase than There was also the heat,—how hot was it? What effect did the heat have on the military or on Downes?
    • Added a bit.
  • Diseases included cholera, typhus and bilharzia. We all know they're diseases, the reader wants to know how they're relevant to Downes. Was it that much of his work was dealing with outbreaks of these diseases?
  • The prose just doesn't flow well in First World War paragraph four (of which the above are examples). Try combining some of the sentences to make it less choppy, and better connected to the subject (and if parts aren't directly relevant to his biography, consider taking them out).
  • Did Doris become pregnant on the visit, or was she already pregnant?
  • Any more detail available on what Doris did with soldiers' families? If she was made an OBE, it must have been something of significance.
  • Do you know W. T. Swan's first name? It seems odd to give the two others their full names, but not Swan.
    • Howie-Willis and Downes refer to him only as Major-General W. T. Swan. I thought for a while that I would have to look him up in the British Army List at the War Memorial, but I found him in the "No. 31348". The London Gazette. 20 May 1919. p. 6263. as William Travers Swan of 80 Pall Mall, London SW1. Do you want him red-linked? Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:27, 13 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Returning to Australia, Downes became an honorary consulting surgeon at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, and honorary surgeon at Prince Henry's Hospital.—while still serving in the Army, or had he left, or was he a reservist? (Ah, I see this is mentioned further down, but could do with a mention further up, imo)
  • He "established himself as one of Melbourne's leading paediatric surgeons" requires attribution—'according to _ he established...' or '...paediatric surgeons according to _'.
  • What does which he led for an Australian record period of 25 years mean?
  • Second paragraph of "Interwar years" seems to just list various appointments—perhaps you could add details about his association with the various organisations?
  • At the same time, Doris became an Officer of the order—which order, and why? (and should order be capitalised if you're referring to a particular order)
  • John succumbed to toxaemia and died.—a date, or at least a month would be nice. How long was he ill?
  • when they were separated from the Army—just the medical branch, or is that when the whole RAAF became a separate service (forgive my lack of knowledge of Australian history!)
  • a full-time post and the Army's most senior medical officer—Wait, what? Is he serving in the Army and RAAF simultaneously?
  • An Army-wide recruiting campaign led by Major General Sir Thomas Blamey doubled the size of the Army from 35,000 in 1938 to 70,000 in 1939 after the Munich Crisis caused people to believe that another war was imminent—You're trying to cram too many facts into that sentence, and it doesn't make sense.
  • Further elaboration on his "moderate success" in recruiting medical professionals would be nice.
  • Four of the six paragraphs in Interwar years start with "Downes"—try to vary it a little.
  • Is stand in tribute to his foresightedness not a touch POV? If it's a quote, quote marks and attribution should solve that.

[End of HJ's comments]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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