Walter Somerville

Walter Somerville
Born	Dublin
Died	2005
Nationality	Irish
Education	University College, Dublin
Medical career
Profession	Cardiologist
Field	Cardiology
Institutions	Middlesex, Harefield
Specialism	Cardiology

Walter Somerville CBE was an Irish cardiologist who played a leading role in heart surgery at London's Middlesex and Harefield hospitals.

For twenty years, Somerville was editor of the British Heart Journal.

Walter Somerville was born in October, 1913, in Clontarf, a seaside suburb of Dublin. He received his early education at the Jesuit Belvedere College in Dublin. Aged 23, he qualified in medicine, surgery and obstetrics from the city's University College in 1937. He was appointed house physician at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital where he gained a degree as Doctor of Medicine.

Somerville applied to join the RAF, but was instead enlisted in the army and sent to India. Indicating that he had no wish to become an army doctor, he was instead returned to Britain and seconded to the government's Chemical Warfare Establishment at Porton Down . In 1943, he was seconded to the US War Department, where he helped with preparations for the invasion of Japan, during which he was badly burned, and left with scars on his face, feet and legs. On leaving the army, a friend with connections in the pharmaceutical industry suggested Somerville might find a job there, but he turned the offer down, just as he did the MGM talent scout who ffered him a screen test because of his English accent and good looks.

After being demobbed and returning to Britain, Somerville took a refresher course at Hammersmith Hospital, led by renowned cardiologist Paul Wood. Wood was impressed by Somerville and offered him the post of registrar at the hospital. In 1948 Somerville assisted Paul Wood with Britain's first cardiac catheterization.

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