John A Mannick was chief of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston and Moseley professor of surgery at Harvard University. He was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, the son of Alfred Mannick, an engineer, and Catherine Mannick née Schuster, an English teacher. As a youngster, his family moved

Frank Ashton was a consultant vascular surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He was born in Birmingham on 26 April 1925. His mother died when he was two, and he moved to Manchester to live with relatives. He returned to Birmingham at the age of 11, when his father remarried, and atten

Joseph Edward Oliver was born on 12 September 1920, and was educated at Coatham School, Caius College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital. He qualified with the Conjoint Diploma and the Cambridge MB in 1943, and became house surgeon at Park Prewett Hospital, Basingstoke before joining the RAMC

Geoffrey Evans was an associate professor of surgery at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was born on 25 January 1935 in Mountain Ash, Glamorgan, Wales, the son of William Garfield Evans, a schoolmaster, and Hannah Evans née James. He attended Mountain Ash Grammar School and then st

John Richard Kenyon, known as ‘Ian’, was a former consultant vascular surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. His father, who was a general practitioner in Glasgow, died when Ian was just 13. His mother had been a Queen Alexandra nursing sister on various hospital ships during the Gallipoli campa

Vettivetpillai Ketharanathan or ‘Nathan’ was a senior research associate at the vascular surgery unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, on 25 November 1935 to Appiah Ketharanathan and Rukmani Nama (Sivayam) Ketharanathan, who were both teachers.

Sydney Rose was a vascular surgeon at Withington and Wythenshawe hospitals, Manchester. He was born in Manchester, the son of Hyman Leonard Rose, a merchant, and Rebecca Rose née Tofield, and gained a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School. He qualified from Manchester University Medical School in

Martin Birnstingl was a consultant vascular surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and was widely respected for his expertise and for his clear and concise teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. He was also a consultant surgeon to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and serv

Daniel de Gourêt Villet was a surgeon in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He was born in South Africa, the son of Daniel du Plessis Villet, a chartered accountant, and Agnes Cecilia Villet née Huxham, a secretary. The Villet family was descended from a Frenchman, Charles Matharin Villet, a naturalist a

Koon-Sung (‘KS’) Cheng was a vascular surgical registrar at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born in Hong Kong, but came to England with his family in 1977. When he arrived he spoke very little English, but made rapid progress at Uckfield Comprehensive School. He went on to study medicine at

Christopher Savage was a consultant vascular surgeon at Leamington and Warwick Hospital. He was born in Kingston on Thames on 31 August 1915. His father, Arthur Livingstone Savage, was an architect, and his mother was the artist Agnes Kate Richardson. He was educated at Gate House School, Kingston,

Chee Voon Soong was a leading vascular surgeon in Belfast and pioneer of endograft placement for ruptured aortic aneurysm. He was born in Ipoh, Malaya, on 7 June 1961, the son of two teachers. He was sent to the Methodist College, Belfast, for his early education, from which he went on to the Queen'