Valentine Hammond ('Val') was a distinguished ENT surgeon at St Thomas' Hospital, London. As a child, he had suffered from repeated ear infections and, on becoming a medical student at St Thomas's, he had a recurrence that introduced him to the friendly ENT firm of Fred Neilson, Bill Mill and Geoffrey Bateman. He was so impressed with their care that after qualifying he applied successfully for their house job. Following a short spell in Plymouth, he returned to St Thomas', first as a senior casualty officer then as a registrar and chief assistant. Somewhat disillusioned with the austerity of post-war London, he decided to take an assignment in Western Australia with a view to possible permanent emigration. On the retirement of Mill in 1962, he was called back by Bateman and was appointed as a consultant surgeon at the age of 32. Val was born in London, the only child of Tom Hammond and Roseanne (née McCullagh) and was named after his mother's brother who had been killed in the First World War. At the age of five his family moved to Faversham, Kent, only to move back to London at the beginning of the Second World War in anticipation of the German invasion of Kent. He started at grammar school in Greenford, but was evacuated to Torquay at the age of 12. Here one day, whilst walking to school, a German fighter plane swooped down, firing on the road ahead of him. He was saved by a portly local milk lady, who leapt on top of him, flattening him to the ground. Both survived unscathed, but the memory of this episode and of his otherwise happy time staying with a family with four children never left Val. It was here in the West Country where Val learned to fish and where later he bought a family holiday cottage in South Pool, Devon. Val took a 'gap year' before starting at St Thomas's Medical School. He spent it staying with an aunt in New York. He used the time well to visit museums and art galleries, and met an English lady who gave him free tickets to the opera thus nurturing a lifetime love of this art form. Shortly after qualifying in 1953 he met Diana (née Hitchings), a Nightingale nurse. They were married in 1955 and had three children - Pippa, Mark and Guy. Their long happy marriage ended in Diana's death from complications associated with Parkinson's disease in 2012. Val, whose subspecialty was otology, was also on the staff of the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, Gray's Inn Road (from 1964 to 1974), the Royal Masonic Hospital and King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers. He served as a member of the Court of Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons and was an external examiner of the Irish fellowship. He was president of the section of otology of the Royal Society of Medicine (from 1984 to 1985) and was later elected an honorary member of the section. His presidency of the British Association of Otolaryngology (BAOL) (1987 to 1990) was frustrated by an attempt by the RCS council to withdraw the otolaryngology FRCS. He fought hard and gained a reprieve of three years, but this forced the Association to seriously consider the formation of a College of Otolaryngology. Ultimately this idea did not materialise as BAOL had insufficient members and funding. On a more positive note, he introduced audit and the adoption of *Clinical Otolaryngology* as the BAOL journal. Valentine Hammond was quietly spoken, immaculately dressed and charming to all. He attracted a large practice, both in the NHS and privately. He and Diana were very social and travelled widely. Val was a passionate gardener and excelled in cultivating rare and exotic orchids. He was a keen salmon and trout fisherman, a good shot and an enthusiastic skier. In Devon, he sailed a Salcombe yawl named *Clickety Click* (it was boat number 66) and later changed to a motor cruiser named *Primula*. All these passions were devolved to his children: Pippa's love of skiing and water sports, Mark's sailing and fishing, and Guy's gardening. Following his retirement in 1994, Val worked for the charity Prisoners of Conscience, which required him to assess potential asylum seekers who had been victims of torture in their native countries. He also became a patron of the Britain Nepal Otology Service, a charity established in 1988 by one of his previous registrars. Val and Diana, through Mark, had two grandchildren, Louisa and Jack. After Diana's death, he moved close to them in West Meon, where he died on 28 September 2017 from prostate cancer. He was 87. In common with many wartime children, Val had a challenging start to his life but with his hard work and charming disposition he became a sought-after surgeon and an excellent role model for aspiring otolaryngologists.