Albert Patrick ('Paddy') Dignan was a former director of Army surgery. He was a remarkable character who was born into a modest family in Dublin. His father, Joseph, a tailor, was able to get all five of his sons through medical school. (Whether an ability to stitch can be inherited remains open to

Bernard Cashman was born on 10 June 1920 in Hammersmith, London. He was the son of Joseph, a master tailor, and his wife, Lena, née Whipp, a tailor and dressmaker. He entered the medical school at University College Hospital, London. He was sufficiently advanced in his medical studies to be exempted

James Dunbar Morgan was born in Liverpool in 1913 and educated at Liverpool College and at Sheffield University where he graduated in medicine in 1940. He later worked in the orthopaedic department of the Sheffield Royal Infirmary, then under the influence of Sir Frank Holdsworth. He was thus well g

Prabhakar Ganyadhar Vaishampayan was born on 30 May 1932. He passed the FRCS in 1973 while working at the Good Hope General Hospital, Sutton Coldfield. He had begun his career there as a senior house officer in orthopaedics and accident and emergency surgery in 1971 and progressed to being SHO in su

Harold Brown was born at Lostwithiel, Cornwall, on 7 August 1924 and educated at Truro School. He trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital, qualifying in 1949. After house surgeon appointments, including obstetrics and orthopaedics, he joined the RAMC in March 1952. Initially on National Service, he was

Anthony Barker was born in Birmingham on 3 September 1920, the son of Charles Edward Barker, a solicitor and clerk of court in Birmingham, and Alice Mary, née Short. He was educated at Mill Hill School and the University of Birmingham Medical School, where he met his future wife Margaret (Maggie) Ne

David Caro was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 8 February 1922, the son of Harold D Caro, a merchant, and Rubina, née Ballin. He was educated at King's School and College, Auckland, before entering Otago University in Dunedin. He qualified in 1946 and shortly afterwards came to England for postgrad

Denley Clark was a consultant surgeon at Pinderfields Hospital and Pontefract General Infirmary. He was born in Thailand (then Siam) on 12 August 1908. His father, Percy Leonard Archibald Clark, was a missionary, as was his mother, Mary Lenore née Denley. He was educated in Thailand until the age of

Akpaneyen Akpan-Essien was a consultant surgeon in the Cross River State, Nigeria. He was born on 21 March 1946 in Ubium, Ibibio Land, Nigeria, the son of David Akpan-Essien and Grace Akpan-Essien née Udoekpo, both peasant farmers. His great grandfather was a landowner, general and physician to the

Richard Harrison was a consultant orthopaedic and accident and emergency surgeon in south west Cumbria. He was born on 8 July 1922 and studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, London, qualifying MB BS in 1944. He was a house surgeon at the Royal Cancer Hospital, a senior registr

Reg Jones, 'Jones the Bones' to his friends and colleagues, was a consultant orthopaedic and accident surgeon in the south east Kent, Canterbury and Thanet area. He was born in Southport on 5 October 1939, the son of Eric Lloyd, a transport manager, and Royal Audrey Joan Lloyd née Johnstone-Brown, a

Sachindra Ghosh was born in Calcutta, India, on 20 June 1928, the son of a marine official in the British India Steam Navigation Company. He received his early schooling in Calcutta, attended Calcutta Science College where he obtained a BSc, and graduated MB BS from the National Medical College in 1