Mr Birt, who was known for his gentlemanly and caring approach to his patients and staff and total dedication to his work, served the Island as a surgeon for 30 years.
Christened St John at his mother’s request, he was known throughout his life as Johnny. Born in London in 1916, he was the son of general practitioner Cyril Birt and Isabel Birt, and had a sister, Rosamund.
Mr Birt knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a surgeon and it was a career which gave him a lifetime of satisfaction. Educated at Marlborough College and St Thomas’s Hospital in London, he qualified as a doctor in 1939 and spent time at a post in Brighton Hospital.
From 1941 to 1946 he served in the Royal Navy as Surgeon-Lieutenant, based on HMS Adamant in the Far East, and later at a number of naval hospitals, including in Ceylon.
On leaving the navy Mr Birt qualified as a surgeon and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1947 at St Thomas’s Hospital.
It was in 1946 that he married Mairi Cameron from Scotland and they had a son, Michael – who became the Island’s Bailiff in July – and daughters Nicola and Caroline.
Two years later he spent a year in Canada on an exchange scholarship with St Thomas’s Hospital.
Mr Birt’s links with Jersey started before the Second World War when he visited the Island for a holiday. A great lover of the sea, he developed an immediate fondness for the Island which he retained throughout his life.
In 1951, when Jersey surgeon Arthur Halliwell contacted one of his contemporaries at St Thomas’s Hospital and asked for someone to assist him with his busy workload, Mr Birt was delighted to accept the post as consultant surgeon. He remained one of the Island’s leading general surgeons for 30 years and specialised in gynaecology and what he referred to as ‘soft tissue work’.
Performing caesarean sections was one of his specialities and he delivered many of the Island’s babies who were born in this way – a procedure he loved because of the joy of a baby it brought with it.
He worked closely for many years with consultant surgeon John Myles, who replaced Mr Halliwell, as well as with Kit De, who worked with him as an associate specialist in general surgery and was promoted to a consultant in 1984.
Mr De regarded him as very good to work with, always ready to provide advice when it was sought, and very supportive of junior and nursing staff.
Mr Birt was always full of fun and his sense of humour and the twinkle in his eye were his well known characteristics.
Former GP Jurat Donald Georgelin described Mr Birt as having had that unusual gift for a surgeon of being able to combine his great skills in general surgery with a well-placed wit, together with his unfailing charm, making it always a pleasure and privilege to assist him in the operating theatre.
Mr Birt was among those who were instrumental in introducing study leave for junior doctors. Among the posts he held were as president of the Jersey branch of the British Empire Cancer Campaign and as a St John Ambulance county surgeon – he was appointed to the Order of St John in 1957.
He was also a former president of the Wessex Division of the British Medical Association, and of the South-West Obstetric and Gynaecological Society.
Mr Birt’s major contribution to medical services in the Island was marked in 1973 when he was awarded the OBE.
A great family man, he loved spending time with his children and eight grandchildren. Among his many contributions to community life were connected to Jersey Hospice – he and Mairi being among its founder members when it opened in 1982. While Mairi worked as a volunteer and drove patients to the hospice, he was a founder-member of the advisory and management board.
Passionately interested in the hospice’s work, Mr Birt always made himself available to advise the nurses on medical matters, and played a very active role on the board until he retired at 80.
Mairi died in the hospice in 1988, where both of them had dedicated so much time and support.
In 1990 he married local teacher Daphne Isaac and they were together for 19 years until his death at their home at Pilot House, Gorey.
His way of relaxing from the pressures of the operating theatre was to be at sea with family members and friends. He had started racing in local dinghy events, moving on to more competitive races from Cowes to Dinard and Brest to Cowes in larger boats, including Chanterelle and Peronnelle.
He was Commodore of the Royal Channel Island Yacht Club between 1959 and 1962 and a keen member of St Helier Yacht Club and St Catherine’s Sailing Club.
Cruising was also a major part of his calendar – a pursuit which all his family enjoyed.
Mr Birt loved Jersey and always thought of it as his home. Even in his final years when his
family took him for drives, he would still admire the beauty of the coast and remark that coming to live in the Island had been one of the best things he had ever done.
Immensely proud of his children, he told his son Michael that he was determined to live until the day he was sworn in as Bailiff. It was a promise which his son was delighted that he was able to keep.
The Jersey Evening Post extends sympathy to his family and friends.
