Robert Cunningham Bruce Macrae was born in New Zealand and served in the New Zealand Army Medical Corps in the first world war. He graduated in Edinburgh, and after obtaining the FRCS in 1924 he practised in Milford Haven before going out to Port Elizabeth in 1931 where he joined Dr James Gilbert in general practice. From 1940 onwards he specialized in surgery and was on the staff of the Provincial Hospital till he retired at the age of 60, though he continued to work in the ENT department of the Livingstone Hospital. He established a considerable reputation for his successful surgery and the care he took of his patients, and his good qualities were acknowledged by his colleagues in his election as President of the Medical Association. He was also keenly interested in the work of the Red Cross. In his leisure time he enjoyed golf, and also made regular big game hunting trips to Northern Rhodesia where he had the misfortune to be mauled by a wounded lion, but the injuries, which included the loss of a finger, did not prevent his return to his surgical work. He remained fully active till the time of his sudden death in 1970 at the age of 73.