Robin Lyell Blin Beare was a consultant plastic surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, and St Mary's Hospital, London. He was born on 31 July 1922 in Weybridge, where his father was a surgeon/GP. Robin went to Radley School, where he was a junior scholar. In 1940 he joined the RAF, trained as a pilot, and was shot down on a bombing raid over Berlin. He parachuted to safety, but was captured and from 1941 was a prisoner of war. After the war he worked as a test pilot researching ejector seats designed by Martin Baker, which left him with lasting back problems. When he left the Royal Air Force he continued to fly, then in 1947 decided to train in medicine at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. He qualified in 1952 with a distinction in surgery, the Charles Bell prize in anatomy and the Leopold Hudson prize in surgical pathology. He was an assistant lecturer in the Bland Sutton Institute of Pathology, and then trained in general surgery at the Middlesex Hospital and in plastic surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, under the tutelage of Sir Archibald McIndoe. In 1956 he was appointed as a consultant at Queen Victoria Hospital and also at Mary's Hospital, Paddington, and had a regular clinic at Brighton. He continued working closely with McIndoe, and when McIndoe died in 1960 Robin succeeded him in his NHS work and also in his private practice at 149 Harley Street. His clinical interests were in facial reconstruction, cleft lip and palate, and burns. He was author of papers on surgical subjects including irradiation injuries of the perineum, skin grafts and flaps. He worked with his colleague John Watson on the design of the building of the new and quite revolutionary burns unit at Queen Victoria Hospital, which was opened in 1963. He was interested in fostering research in plastic surgery and was an original trustee of the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation. His private, mostly cosmetic, practice was considerable and one newspaper rated him as one of the top eight in the world. His colleagues remember him as a 'man of action' and very generous. He had a meticulous surgical technique and demanded a similar performance from others. He was a member of the Court of Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was honoured with the grand officer, first class, of the Order of Al-Istiqlal, Jordan. He was a passionate fisherman and enjoyed shooting and engineering projects. He also designed and made ornaments in silver and gold. Robin Lyell Blin Beare died on 1 December 2007, aged 85. He was survived by his wife Iris, sons Julian and John (an ophthalmic surgeon), and daughters Virginia and Karen.