Born on 2 December 1919 at Rhos, a village near Wrexham, North Wales, John Lloyd Davies was the son of a general practitioner surgeon at Wrexham Hospital, and grandson of a general practitioner. Educated at Epsom College, he obtained a scholarship to St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1937, where he qualified in 1942. Following house-surgical posts at Bart's he went into the Army and was posted to field hospitals in India and Burma, ending his Army service with the rank of Major and as Officer Commanding 24 India Convalescent Depot, Lebong, near Darjeeling. After his return to England at the end of the war he spent nine months working in his grandfather's single-handed practice in Wales before further surgical training at Bart's, becoming FRCS in 1948. Following posts as surgical registrar at Chase Farm Hospital and as senior registrar at Watford, he spent four years as senior registrar and tutor in clinical surgery to the West London Hospital, during which time he was also a clinical assistant at St Mark's Hospital, holding the Dan Mason Research Scholarship in 1954. The following year he became senior registrar at Guy's Hospital and clinical assistant at St Peter's Hospital. In December 1958 John Lloyd Davies was appointed consultant surgeon to the Salisbury General Hospital, where his broad training and wide experience were the envy of his younger colleagues. With a highly analytical mind and great clinical integrity, he had very high standards in everything he did, and expected the same high standards from others. After going to Salisbury he developed his interest in urology, and also undertook major vascular surgery. Later he did a lot of thyroid and parathyroid surgery and devised an instrument for detecting the recurrent laryngeal nerve. He was a great doctor, beloved by his patients and colleagues, and an excellent teacher. He also played an important part in the administration of the hospital, serving on many committees in Salisbury District and also in the Wessex Region. Because of his qualities and wide experience his advice was asked on many matters, and he always gave wise and disinterested help. For several years he was consultant to the director of the Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down. Elected to the Fellowship of the Association of Surgeons in 1972, he was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the British Medical Association. His leisure interests were gardening and fishing. His tragic death in a road accident on 9 January 1979 at the age of 59 was a severe blow not only to his family, but also to his colleagues and friends. He was survived by his second wife, Frances Huxley (Jinny), whom he married in 1959, and by three daughters and a son, Steven, now a medical student at Guy's Hospital.