Sir Rodney Sweetnam was undoubtedly the doyen of orthopaedic surgery of his generation. He had many talents. Foremost, he was a natural surgeon, gifted with great operative dexterity. He was also a pioneer in the research and management of bone tumours, and, thirdly, was an outstanding committee cha

Born at Dunedin, New Zealand, on 10 April 1911, eldest child of the six sons and one daughter of David Highet and Elsie Bremner his wife; his parents survived him. He was educated at the Musselburgh primary school and the Otago Boys High School, both at Dunedin, and took his medical training at the

Born near Lyon in 1868, he had a brilliant school and university career there. He qualified in 1893 with a thesis on difficulties of bone-growth following experimental and clinical lesions of the conjugatory cartilages. Nové-Josserand intended to enter the factories of the Creusot engineering compan

Born at Sydney, New South Wales, on 4 January 1887, second son of Charles Smith, banker, and his wife, *née* Single. He was educated at the Fort Street High School and Sydney University. During the first world war he served in the Australian Army Medical Corps, and was promoted to the rank of major.

Rodney Sneath was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham and a pioneer in limb salvage surgery for patients with bone tumours. He was born in Sheffield, the son of Ernest Saville Sneath, a master printer, who owned the ‘Saville Press’. His mother was Dorothy

John Gibson Taylor, known as ‘Ian’, was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. He was born on 8 June 1918, three months before the end of the First World War, the only child of Scottish parents Kate and William Taylor. Ian’s father was an engineer employed at the Royal Aer

Alexander James Innes was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Stirling Royal and Falkirk and District Royal infirmaries. His father, James Innes, of Fochabers in Moray, was a farmhand who enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders at the age of 16 and rose to the rank of sergeant. His mother was Jessie Tu

Myer Makin was professor of orthopaedics at Hadassah University, Jerusalem. He was born in Birkenhead in March 1919, the son of Leon Makin and Rebecca nee Goldman, furniture dealers. He studied medicine at Liverpool University and was house surgeon at Walter Municipal Hospital, Liverpool, before joi

Hubert Bond Stafford Kemp, known as ‘Hugh’, was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH), Stanmore. Born on 25 March 1925, the son of John Stafford Kemp and Cecilia Isabel née Bond, he was educated at Cardiff High School, the University of South Wales and St

Francis Tasker (‘Frank’) Wheeldon was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Plymouth. Born in north London on 1 August 1917, his father was permanent private secretary to Sir Thomas Lipton, the tea magnet. He was educated at Weston-super-Mare Grammar School and Westminster Hospital, qualifying in 1941

Robin Bendall was an orthopaedic surgeon in London. He was born on 1 April 1933 in Notthingham, where his father, Oliver Francis Bendall, was a wholesale grocer. His mother was Winnie May née Barrett. He attended West Bridgford Grammar School, Nottingham, and then went on to Guy’s Hospital Medical S

David Harding-Jones was an orthopaedic surgeon in Carmarthen, Wales. He was born in Stratford, East London, on 3 August 1936, one of a pair of identical twins. His father, William, was a Presbyterian minister. His mother was Gertrude Alice née Roberts. He was educated at Bancroft's School, Woodford