John Herbert Thompson was born on 2 April 1900. He was educated at Bootham, York, whence he proceeded to University College Hospital, London, qualifying with the Conjoint Diploma in 1923. After house appointments and obtaining the FRCS in 1928 he joined the Colonial Service and was posted as a surgical specialist in the Palestine Medical Service. Subsequently he joined the Iraq Petroleum Company Hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon. In 1958-9 he was elected President of the BMA's Middle East branch. He was granted the Gold Medal of Merit by the Lebanese government. He retired to England and was living in Poole, Dorset, when he died on 28 June 1989, survived by his wife, Barbara, two sons, John and Michael; a daughter, Jane; seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.