Colin Rees was born in Machynlleth, North Wales, on 22 January 1940 and when he was four the family moved to Llanfyllin where his father kept a greengrocery store. After early education at Llanfyllin High School he entered St Mary's Hospital Medical School with a Kitchener Scholarship. He qualified in 1963 and after early house appointments at Paddington General Hospital and the Royal East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1964. He spent the next thirteen years in the Army, serving in Northern Ireland on three occasions as well as in Germany. During this time he acquired experience in a wide range of surgical problems, especially in the management of trauma. He passed the FRCS Edinburgh in 1971 and the FRCS in 1972 and by the time he left the Army in 1977 he had attained the rank of Major. During the next two years he worked at a civilian hospital in West Germany but in 1979 returned to England to join a practise in Oswestry where he was able to continue his surgical career, carrying out a wide range of surgical procedures at Oswestry and District Hospital. He had a keen sense of humour and a ready wit which made the operating theatre a happy place to work in. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Welsh rugby and played golf during his leisure time. A man with an apparently insatiable curiosity on all matters he was happy to discourse for hours on the various merits of Italian or German wines. He married Jill, a qualified nurse, in 1965 and they had three sons, Gareth, Trevor, and John. He died suddenly on 15 November 1986 after a heart attack, aged 46.