John Malbon Mynors was born at Birmingham on 1 September 1921, and educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Birmingham. In 1943 he graduated with distinction from Birmingham Medical School, prepared for a life of practical Christian service by Crusader leadership. After resident surgical and obstetric appointments he became temporary Surgeon-Lieutenant, RNVR, and saw active service in destroyers before the end of the second world war. After several resident appointments he took the FRCS in 1953 and practised in the Sudan, becoming senior lecturer in surgery at the University College of Khartoum. While there his interest was kindled in the need for medical training in developing countries, and he returned to England in 1956 resolved to prepare himself to be a teacher of surgery. During his postgraduate training at Birmingham and Oxford he developed a special interest in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery. His thesis on the clinical significance of the bowel sounds led to the award of the ChM by Birmingham University in 1964. He held the distinction of being the first occupant of the Chair of Surgery at two different medical schools. In 1963, under the auspices of the British Council, he was appointed Professor of Surgery in the Mosul Medical College of the University of Baghdad. In 1966 he was appointed Professor of Surgery in the new medical school of the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The stream of graduates of a very high standard and those who have attained FRCS owe their success mainly to him. He endowed a prize for anatomy in this medical school, and was an examiner for the Primary FRCS in South Africa. In 1972 he became consultant surgeon to the Hospital of St Cross at Rugby and to Gulson Hospital, Coventry, and initiated and maintained the teaching of anatomy at Coventry to students taking the Primary FRCS examination. John Mynors applied the faith of a committed Christian to his work. He was kind and gentle, with a quiet sense of humour, intolerant with those who would compromise the high standards he set. Patients and students loved him and medical and nursing staff recall with affection his approachability, patience and loyalty. As a surgeon and a man he has left his mark in three continents. He rescued four steam locomotives from the scrapyard and was an active member of the Great Western Society and the Caerphilly Railway Society. He planted many trees in his corner of Warwickshire to replace those destroyed by Dutch elm disease. He married Una Williams in 1947, they had two daughters and one son. He died suddenly on 31 March 1979, aged 57 years.