Ernest Gerald Stanley was born in Brixton on 24 December 1886 and was educated at Marlborough and St Bartholomew's Hospital. He qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1910, and in 1912 he took the FRCS and the MS. After resident appointments at Bart's he became a demonstrator of anatomy, and honorary surgeon to the Seamen's Hospital, Greenwich. At the outbreak of the first world war he joined the RAMC and served with distinction in France, being twice mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes. After the war he remained in France and practised in Paris on the staffs of the British and American Hospitals, having taken the MD Paris degree in 1921. In 1937, shortly after the death of his wife, he retired from practice and returned to England to settle at Wembury, near Plymouth where he took a delight in cultivating rare shrubs and trees. On the outbreak of the second world war Stanley wished to be of service again, and in 1943 he was appointed surgeon and medical superintendent for the City General Hospital, Plymouth. With the advent of the National Health Service he continued as surgeon to the hospital until his retirement in 1951 when he was made Surgeon Emeritus. His surgery was characterized by dexterity, precision and gentleness, and his quiet and considerate manner endeared him to staff and patients alike. He always had a great love of the sea, and while in France he enjoyed yachting though on returning to England he was content to do his ocean voyaging as a passenger. He died on 24 November 1970 at the age of 83, being survived by his second wife, a son, and three daughters, one of whom became medically qualified.