John Candy was born at Newport, Monmouthshire, on 8 January 1924, the son of Thomas Ignatius Candy, MD Belfast, a consulting radiologist. His paternal uncle was a general practitioner in Edinburgh. He was educated at Dolgelly Grammar School and Guy's Hospital Medical School which he entered in 1941.

John Henry Kettle studied at Sydney University where he was President of the Medical Society 1952-3. He graduated MB BS in 1951 and became resident medical officer at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney 1951-2. He came to England and was surgical registrar at St Luke's Hospital, Guildford, Surr

Mohamed Alyan was born at Aswan, Egypt on 16 September 1922; his father Yassin Alyan, was a business man and his mother's name was Baheya El-Kadi. Alyan received his medical education in Cairo University graduating in 1947. He held resident appointments in Cairo and became a surgical registrar in 19

Frank Haine was born in Little Wolford, Oxfordshire, on 13 November 1909, the eldest of four boys. His father, Robert John Haine, was a farmer who had moved from Somerset to the north Cotswolds after the death of his first wife. His mother, Marianne Baines Horne, was the daughter of a corn merchant

William O'Flynn was born in County Limerick on 12 April 1927, into a family with a long tradition in medicine as general practitioners. Unfortunately no details of his forbears are available. After education at Presentation College, Bray, County Wicklow he entered the National University of Ireland

John Stuart Martin was senior consultant otolaryngologist at Hull Royal Infirmary. He was born on 19 June 1917 in Robinstown, County Meath, and qualified from Queen's University Belfast in 1939. After completing his junior appointments in Belfast he joined the RAMC, where he served in North Africa a

Lou Opit was Professor of Community Medicine at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He was born in Curra Mulka, South Australia, on 22 November 1927. His father, Leon, was a medical practitioner, and his mother was Bertha née Goldman. He was educated at St Peter's Collegiate School, Adelaide, and

Robert (Robin) Welsh was born on 23 April 1928 in Witbank, Transvaal, South Africa, the eldest son of Dr Robert William Hepburn Welsh, a general practitioner in Pretoria for thirty years, and Evelyn Jessie Watson. He was educated at St John's College, Johannesburg, and the University of Witwatersran