Arthur Richard Cecil ('Dick') Butson was a general surgeon in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was born in Hankow, China, to British parents, Cecil Walter Butson, a consultant engineer, and Doris Neave Butson née Stanton-Cook, an artist, on 24 October 1922. He was educated at Leighton Park School, Reading, then St John's College, Cambridge University, and University College Hospital, where he qualified with his MB BChir in 1945. As a medical student, Butson served with the light rescue services and the Home Guard during the London bombings of the Second World War, receiving a Defence medal for his service. Following the war, Butson was the successful applicant for a post as medical officer for a British combined forces expedition to the Antarctic. He was a member of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey of the Graham Land region of the Antarctic peninsula for an 18-month period between 1946 and 1948. Butson's daily diary of that experience was published in 2010 (*Young men in the Antarctic: a doctor's illustrated diary [1946-1948]* Battered Silicon Dispatch Box Press). The diary contains a description of Butson's daring rescue - in 1947 - of an American surveyor who fell over 100 feet into a glacial crevasse, in the middle of winter and several miles from base camps. Working head down, and getting stuck several times himself, Butson painstakingly chipped away at the ice trapping the surveyor for over an hour before he was finally able to free him. Butson's love of mountain climbing had certainly served him well (he climbed extensively in the Canadian Rockies, Baffin Island, the Alps, the Antarctic and the Hindu Kush in the western Himalaya; Butson Ridge in the Antarctic is named after him). In recognition of his bravery, Butson was awarded the Albert medal from King George VI at Buckingham Palace in November 1948. The Albert medal was later replaced by the George Cross and Butson was reinvested with the George Cross in July 1972. (The Cross is the highest award for civilian gallantry for British and Commonwealth citizens.) In 1953 Butson also received an Elizabeth II Polar medal (with bar Antarctica 1947) for his efforts as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. J E M Young, clinical professor of surgery at McMaster University, remembers a colleague's comment that 'Dick was the only person most of us would ever meet who had been at both the South and North Poles!' Butson's time with the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey counted as his National Service requirement, and he returned to London to train as a surgeon. He emigrated to Canada in 1952 to complete his surgical training in Montreal. He passed his fellowship examinations in England, Canada and the United States, thereby earning the post-nominal letters FRCS, FRCSC and FACS. Butson settled in Hamilton, Ontario, where he started a surgical practice that would span many years. When the McMaster University Medical School was established in 1970, Butson joined the department of surgery, serving as a clinical lecturer or assistant clinical professor until 1992. He also served for many years as head of general surgery at St Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton. Michael Marcaccio, professor of general surgery at McMaster, recalls that Butson '…was always willing to share his experience and expertise with others, and he willingly gave of his time to such activities. He always participated with enthusiasm and integrity.' William Orovan, professor of urology, echoes that praise, commenting that Butson '…is so deserving of a special memory; he was a very special man and surgeon'. In 1956, Butson joined the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry regiment as unit medical officer, where he served until 1972. During that year, Butson was made commanding officer - at the rank of lieutenant colonel - of the 16 Hamilton Medical Company (later the 23 [Hamilton] Field Ambulance). In 1975 and again in 1977 the Hamilton unit won the Ryerson trophy for being the best militia medical company in Canada. In 1977, Butson became area surgeon of Central Militia Area Headquarters. He also developed a militia surgical parachute team, after qualifying as a Canadian Forces parachutist at the age of 55. Butson received the Canadian Forces Decoration in 1968 and the bar in 1978. He was made a Queen's Honorary Surgeon in 1977 and received the Queen's Silver Jubilee medal, also in 1977. Butson was made an officer of the Order of Military Merit in 1982. Butson was also active in the St John Ambulance Brigade in Hamilton and served as the provincial surgeon for Ontario for several years. He was made a serving brother of the Order of St John in 1977, an officer of the Order in 1983 and a commander of the Order in 1989. Butson joined the Defence Medical Association of Canada in 1971 and served as national president in 1980. He also represented Canada on medical matters as part of the NATO Reserve Officers Association. In 2008, Butson had the memoirs of his father Cecil's experiences as a young man in China published (*Memories of China [1910-1932]: an engineer's memoirs from the Manchus to Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Tse-tung*, Battered Silicon Dispatch Box Press). The volume included an introduction by Butson, as well as a number of watercolours by his mother, Doris. Willian Orovan recalls how Butson would frequently reflect on how Cecil had been such 'a great father'; publishing his father's memoirs represented a wonderful way for him to pay tribute. Butson married Joyce Scott Cowell in 1946. He was married for a second time, to Eileen Callon, in June 1967. He had two daughters, Sarah and Caroline, a son, Andrew Richard, and a granddaughter, Hannah. Butson continued to raise Belted Galloway cattle on his Ancaster farm well into his late eighties. He died on 24 March 2015. He was 92.