Cyril Fletcher ('Peter') Critchley was born on 7 July 1909 in Dulwich, south London, the son of James Critchley, a barrister, and his wife Margaret, née Fletcher. He was educated at Dulwich College and St Thomas's Hospital, and qualified in 1934. As a student, he fenced for London University. His early surgical appointments included casualty assistant at St Thomas's, and house surgeon appointments at the Miller and Cancer Hospitals. At this stage in his career he was greatly influenced by Philip Mitchiner and Lawrence Abel. He passed the FRCS in 1937. During the war he served as a surgical specialist (lieutenant colonel) in the RAMC, both in France and in India, but was invalided home after contracting typhus and amoebic dysentery. He was awarded the TD in 1945 and in the same year obtained his MS. He was subsequently appointed consultant surgeon to the St Helier and Bromley Group of Hospitals. His published work included papers of general surgical interest and part authorship of Powers' *Technique of Surgery*. On his retirement he returned to Dorset, where he was able to enjoy his hobbies of photography, music, botany, and collecting New Hall porcelain. He died of a stroke on 8 June 1995, survived by his wife Dorothy, whom he had married in 1940, a son John and daughter Anne, all of them doctors.