Duncan Davidson Cranna, son of Robert Cranna MB, ChB Aberdeen 1901, of Bolton, was born on 24 June 1909, and was educated at Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, and at Manchester University. He graduated MB, ChB in 1934 and obtained the Conjoint Diploma in the same year. His interest in orthopaedic surgery developed early, with appointments at the Manchester Royal Infirmary and at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. He was a demonstrator and then a lecturer at the Manchester Medical School. Joining the RAMC in 1939, he served during the second world war as an orthopaedic specialist. After demobilization with the rank of Major he continued his training under the guidance of Sir Harry Platt. He took the FRCS in 1947, and in 1949 became consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Salford Royal and Hope Hospitals and to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. He was also visiting surgeon to the Bethesda Crippled Children's Home and lecturer in orthopaedic surgery at the Manchester Foot Hospital. Duncan Cranna was a man whose breadth of character defied adequate appreciation. Born of Aberdonian stock, firmly rooted in Bolton, and refined by the classical education of a Scottish public school, he was an unassuming man with a particular talent for friendship. As a speaker he was unrivalled. It mattered not if his audience was a large gathering or just a few friends, he had a turn of phrase and a sense of timing which transformed the description of ordinary events; but with this he was an excellent listener. He was a lifelong devotee of rugby football. After a distinguished playing career as a fine forward he continued to serve the game as a referee, and then in the wider administrative field as President of the Manchester University Athletic Union. He was for many years in the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel (RAMC), and was awarded the Territorial Decoration. He was a deacon and a valued member of his local Congregational church. Duncan was a skilled and hard-working craftsman, possessed of a critical faculty and an intellectual honesty which he always applied first to his own opinions. Impatient at times of the vagaries of administrators, he was himself a sound organizer, and brought to the councils of his colleagues a robust common sense, enlivened by his ready wit, though he sometimes hid his wisdom behind a facade of joviality. He had a wide interest in all branches of his specialty: he was particularly interested in the care of the crippled child; his sporting background gave him a special insight into the treatment of the injured athlete; he had intuitive ability in assessing each patient's character, and his skill with words and his grasp of fundamentals made him an accomplished teacher. As a Fellow of the British Orthopaedic Association, he contributed much to its discussions and social activities. Cranna died at 334 Upper Brook Street, Manchester on 22 December 1967 aged 58, survived by his wife and their seven children; he had intended to retire soon and farm in Scotland.