Gwen Hilton was born on 22 September 1898, the daughter of Micaiah John Muller Hill, FRS, Professor of Pure Mathematics, University College, London, and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of London. Her mother was Minnie Grace, daughter of Marriott Ogle Tarbotton of Nottingham. Ther

Pieter Van Miert was born in Ireland and educated in Dublin at the Catholic University School and at University College where he graduated MB with first class honours in 1943. He immediately joined the RAMC and served in England and India till the end of the second world war in 1945. During the next

Evan Sherrah-Davies, who was to make his career in radiotherapy, was born on 8 October 1922 in Rossendale, Lancashire. He was the son of the local general practitioner, also called Evan, who proudly kept a meticulous record of Evan's achievements, and his wife Amelia, née Oakley. After a series of p

Arthur Jones was a pioneering radiotherapist. He was born in Wrexham, North Wales, on 1 February 1919. His father, Edward Hugh Jones, died when he was young and he was brought up by his mother, Margaret Lloyd Jones. He was educated at Grove Park School, where he became interested in physics, and his

David Waldron Smithers was born on 17 January 1908 in Knockholt, Kent, the home of his father Sir Waldron Smithers JP, stockbroker and staunchly Conservative MP, and of his grandfather Sir Alfred Smithers MP, chairman of the Canadian Grand Trunk Railway. A knighthood was clearly an obligatory achiev

Denys Sambrook did his medical studies at St Thomas's Hospital where he qualified in 1938. After junior posts in orthopaedics he decided to train as a radiotherapist and for a time worked as a consultant in radiation oncology at St John Regional Hospital, New Brunswick, Canada. After being appointed

Evan Sherrah-Davies went from Cambridge to the Westminster Hospital where he qualified in 1947. After house jobs he did his National Service in the RAF as a surgical specialist. After returning to civilian life he specialised in radiotherapy and became consultant radiotherapist to the Christie Hospi

Alexander Digges La Touche, the son of a general practitioner, was born at Ossett, Yorkshire, on 31 December 1899. On leaving Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield, he entered the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth before serving as an Executive Officer in the Royal Navy during the fi

Ralph Francis Phillips was born in London on 8 May 1903 the son of Lorraine Phillips, a printer, and Emma, née Kerrison. At the age of ten he went to Christ's Hospital, where he remained for nine years until he entered St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School. There he won the junior scholarship in

Noel Pizey was born on 19 December 1922. He trained in medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, where he qualified in 1946. After junior posts he specialised in radiotherapy, becoming senior registrar in the department of radiotherapy at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, and senior radiotherapy and surgic

Born in Belfast on 27 December 1907, Gerald was the younger son of William Townsley and Anne, née Boyd. He was educated at Larne Grammar School and Queen's University where he obtained prizes in chemistry and anatomy and proceeded to a BSc degree with honours in anatomy, embryology and physiology in

Robert Maclaren was born in Glasgow on 27 October 1923 and was educated at Glasgow Academy. His preclinical medical education was at King's College, London, before qualifying from the Westminster Hospital. After two years of resident appointments at the Westminster and Royal National Orthopaedic Hos