Philip Rowland Allison, the son of J R Allison, was born at Selby, Yorkshire, on June 2 1907, and was educated at Hymers College, Hull. He was one of a family of five, two others of whom became doctors. He entered the Leeds Medical School in 1924 and had a brilliant career, taking the BSc with first

Norman Barrett was born in Adelaide, Australia, on 16 May 1903. He was one of the great pioneers of thoracic surgery. After spending his early years in Australia he came to England and was educated at Eton where he was distinguished in both academic and athletic fields. He proceeded to Trinity Colle

Thannipulliara-Chige Perera practised in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a thoracic surgeon. His sister was deputy Minister of Health. He is thought to have died sometime before July 1976.

Jack Collis was a pioneering thoracic surgeon. He was born in Harborne, Birmingham, on 14 July 1911, the son of Walter Thomas Collis, an industrial chemist, and Dora Charton Reay. His choice of medicine was greatly influenced by his local GP and his two medical uncles, one of whom was a professor of

Clem Grimshaw was a thoracic surgeon in Oxford. He was born on 15 May 1915, in Batley, Yorkshire, to a wool family and was educated at Woodhouse Grove, the local Methodist school, where he learned to play the organ. A Latin master encouraged him to go to Edinburgh. On qualifying, he spent a year i

Leslie Temple was a consultant thoracic surgeon at Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool. He was born in London in 1915 and studied medicine at University College Hospital. After qualifying in 1939, he completed house posts in Aylesbury and Canterbury, and was then a resident surgical officer at Wigan Infi

Heath Thurlow Thompson was a thoracic surgeon to the North Canterbury Hospital Board, New Zealand. He was born in London on 3 May 1920 and studied at Christ’s College, Christchurch, New Zealand. He was a house surgeon at Grey River Hospital, Greymouth, New Zealand, from 1944 to 1945, and then joined

David Skinner was an eminent American thoracic surgeon and one of the most influential individuals affecting surgical and medical care in the United States in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He was born on 28 April 1935 in Joliet, Illinois, the first child of James and Bertha Skinner, and

Bill Cleland was a pioneering thoracic surgeon who helped develop open heart surgery in London in the 1950s. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 30 May 1912, the son of Sir John Burton Cleland, professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide, and Dora Isabel Robson. He was proud to be th

James Daniel Hardy was an organ transplant pioneer and the first chairman of the department of surgery and surgeon in chief at the University Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi. Board certified by both the American Board of Surgery and the Board of Thoracic Surgery and a fellow of the American Col

William Glasgow Ferguson, or 'Fergie' as he was known, was a thoracic surgeon in Victoria, Australia. He was born in Whitley Bay, Northumberland, on 4 March 1919, the son of William and Sara Ferguson. He studied medicine at Durham, where he qualified in 1942. After four months as a house surgeon at

Clayton Lindsay Nelson Robinson, known as 'Robbie', was a thoracic surgeon in Vancouver, Canada. He was born in Chapeau, Quebec, the son of Joseph Edward Robinson, a rancher, and Ada Elizabeth Robinson née Armstrong. He was raised on a farm in Meath, Ontario, the youngest of three sons who were all