Charles Robert McDonald Redwood was born in Bangalore, India, on 5 April 1919 the son of Alfred McDonald Redwood, a missionary. His early education was at Breeks School, Ootacamund, and he entered Middlesex Hospital Medical School shortly before the outbreak of war. On qualifying in 1943 he immediately joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Surgeon-Lieutenant. After demobilisation he was demonstrator in physiology at the University of Leeds from 1946 to 1948 when he was appointed junior registrar at Hammersmith Hospital, spending a year working with Professor Ian Aird and a further year with Professor R Shackman. He passed the FRCS in 1950 and served as registrar when he was appointed senior registrar at Sheffield, working mainly under J Lytle but rotating to peripheral hospitals at Leicester and Derby. Although he had a busy surgical commitment he was a dedicated teacher and always made time to instruct junior colleagues in clinical and operative skills. In 1959 he was appointed consultant surgeon at Doncaster Royal Infirmary and quickly established himself as a proficient, industrious surgeon with a special interest in gastroenterology. His teaching commitments continued and he additionally undertook administrative duties in his role as Chairman of the Hospital Management Committee. Throughout his career he acquired the habit of illustrating his operation notes with line drawings enabling colleagues to understand the precise operative procedure which had been performed. He retired from hospital practice in 1980 on health grounds and was appointed surgeon emeritus to the hospital. After three more years in Doncaster he moved to Bath in 1983. His main outside interests were listening to music and reading. In June 1944 he married Kay Johnson, an officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service, and they had a son, Michael and a daughter, Clare. He died suddenly after a severe heart attack on 4 August 1988, aged 69.