Malcolm May was born in Gravesend, Kent, on 16 October 1919, the son of John George May, a Trinity House pilot, and Aileen (née Reynolds). He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School and Guy's Hospital, qualifying by the Conjoint examination in 1942. He joined the Royal Navy as Surgeon-Lieutenant, s

John Reginald Thompson was born on 13 March 1917 in Paignton, Devon, the son of John Thompson FRCS, GP surgeon of Torquay and Paignton and Elsie, née Royle. His mother was one of the first women to qualify as a doctor when she passed the MD in Manchester in 1909. He was educated at Sherborne School

Ken Wilkinson qualified from St Mary's Hospital in 1942. After house jobs he served in the RNVR as surgeon lieutenant, returning to complete his training at the Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow. He was a true general surgeon, and although his main interest was in urology, he resisted the separati

John Withycombe was born in Exeter on 11 August 1918. the son of Arthur John Withycombe, a barrister, and his wife Winifred Annie, née Kiddle. He was educated at Sherbome, Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, where lie qualified in 1942. After only one house job

Terence Kennedy was born in Plymouth on 12 December 1919 to Charles Matheson Kennedy, MBE FRCS, former surgical first assistant at the London Hospital and consultant surgeon at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Plymouth, and Mabel Maud, née Hore, a nurse. His grandfather had qualified at Trinity, Dublin

Anthony Partridge was born on 8 February 1920, in London, the son of Walter Partridge, a dental surgeon, and Evelyn Edgar. After education at Framlingham College, Suffolk, he entered Charing Cross Hospital where he qualified and held appointments as house surgeon in general surgery, and as house sur

William Hamer, son of William, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Alice Marjorie, née Evans, was born in London on 22 July 1919. From Boston Grammar School and Oakham School, Rutland, he went to St Mary's Hospital, London. He held house appointments at the Postgraduate Medical School and was infl

John Francis Neil Ward-McQuaid, the son of Colonel John FTP Ward-McQuaid and his wife Enid Ecila, née Cheshire, was born on 30 December 1918 at Neston, Cheshire. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, where he won several prizes and was a notable cricketer. As the son of a serving army o