Herbert Alfred Brittain, son of J W Brittain of Dublin, was educated at Sedbergh School and Trinity College, Dublin where he graduated in 1926. He then held surgical appointments at Bristol Royal Infirmary, Leicester Royal Infirmary, and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London. In 1931 he obtained the MCh and FRCS, and was appointed assistant surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in 1932. It was not, however, until 1935 that he determined to devote his activities solely to orthopaedics. That year he became the first orthopaedic surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital; he was also orthopaedic surgeon to the neighbouring hospitals and to the Norfolk County Council. Not only was Brittain a brilliant surgeon, but he had an original mind. This linked with tremendous energy, determination and a practical sense produced noteworthy advances in orthopaedic surgery, and his name soon won international fame. As early as 1935 he introduced a method of insertion of a trifin nail for the fixation of fractures of the neck of the femur (*Brit med J* 1938). About the same time he started developing new methods of arthrodesis, especially of the hip joint, and eventually perfected a method of ischio-femoral arthrodesis which he fully described in his book *Architectural Principles in Arthrodesis*. This operation became known all over the world as the "Brittain operation" and was the subject of his Hunterian Professorship at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1940. A later operation was the V-arthrodesis for mono-articular osteoarthritis of the hip in old people, which was most effective in relieving pain. He designed it specially to reduce post-operative external splinting to a minimum. In the second world war Brittain served in the RAMC mostly in the Middle East and Italy, commanding a surgical division with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He wrote about surgery in modern warfare, and for his services was awarded the OBE. On demobilisation he returned to Norwich and continued his work there, establishing a comprehensive orthopaedic service for the whole area. Brittain, known to all his friends as "Tommy", was an exceptional man, both physically and mentally. He had unbounded energy and in spite of the untiring service he gave to his work he was a keen squash player and later a huntsman. In 1946 he sustained a fracture-dislocation of his cervical spine as a result of an accident in a point-to-point race; he not only recovered from this but returned to the hunting field. Brittain was widely read in English literature and had a great love of the language. A handsome man, a gifted conversationalist, with a tremendous zest for life, he was much loved by his patients. Brittain's consulting rooms were at 100 Newmarket Road, Norwich and his home was Witton House, Witton, Norwich, where, with his second wife, formerly Sonia Barclay, and his two daughters, he relaxed and entertained on a most generous scale. In 1952 he was seriously ill with thrombosis for many months but he recovered and returned to surgery and hunting once more. He died suddenly on 4 March 1954 in his sleep, aged 50. Publications: *Architectural principles in arthrodesis*, 1942; 2nd edition 1952. "The application of Plaster of Paris", in Hamilton Bailey *Surgery of modern warfare*, 1942. Ischiofemoral arthrodesis. *J Bone Jt Surg* 1948, 30 B, 642.