John Turner was educated at Trinity Grammar School from whence he proceeded to the University of Melbourne where he gained the reputation of a first class tennis player and a keen student. He went into residence at Trinity College and graduated with top honours in 1928. For the next two years he held resident appointments at Melbourne Hospital and later became a surgical registrar. After obtaining his MD and MS degrees he decided to come to England and was admitted to the Fellowship in 1933. Rectal surgery was his chief interest and in order to specialise in that field he spent some time as a resident in the Gordon Hospital. Turner then returned to Australia and was shortly appointed surgeon to outpatients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a post he held until his untimely illness from a stroke in 1958 forced him to retire. Apart from his surgery Turner was always a keen teacher and at the height of his powers was in great demand with his students. His chief interest apart from his work was firstly tennis and later golf which he played with great enthusiasm and skill. He was a thoughtful and generous host, and a family man with a happy home. He died quietly in Melbourne on 24 April 1969.