Robert Fuller was born in Acton, London, on 4 January 1916. His father, Charles, was a company director. His mother was Mildred Kate née Lambert, a housewife. Robert was educated at St Paul's from 1928 to 1934, and then went on to St Mary's Hospital to study medicine. After qualifying in 1939, with

Romiel Anthonis was the most celebrated Asian surgeon of his day, and a role model to generations of Sri Lankans. He was born in Bambalapitiya, a suburb of Colombo, on 21 January 1911, one of the 16 children of Polwatte Arachchige Michael Anthonis, a master-carpenter, and Hettiarachchige Engaltina P

Douglas Robertson was a consultant general surgeon at the Royal Hospital, Sheffield. He was born in London in 1919 of Scottish parents. His father, Falconer Robertson, was a banker, and his mother, Jane Mary Duff, was a teacher. Douglas was educated at the Stationers’ Company School. He entered St B

Philip Shemilt was a highly respected consultant surgeon at Salisbury General Hospital. Over a long career as a general surgeon, which included service during the Second World War and a period spent working in post-colonial Zimbabwe, he carried out 32,000 operations. He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, S

Leslie Le Quesne was professor of surgery at the Middlesex Hospital, London. He was born in Ashburton, Devon, on 24 August 1919. His father, Charles Thomas Le Quesne, was a prominent barrister, originally from Jersey; his mother, Florence Elizabeth Eileen Pearce Gould, was the granddaughter of Sir A

John Reginald St George Stead was born in Grahamstown, South Africa, on 20 June 1908. His father was William Yewdall Stead, a missionary priest, and his mother, Miriam Peterson, was the daughter of an architect. He was the sixth child in the family and the third boy. He was educated at St Andrew's P

Frank Ivor Tovey was born on 1 September 1921 in Bath, the son of Ernest and Ellen Louise Tovey. He was educated at Kingswood School and then entered Bristol University Medical School, graduating in 1944. The following year he applied to work overseas under the aegis of the Methodist Missionary Soci

Gordon Andrew Barclay was a consultant surgeon in London's East End, at St Andrew's Hospital, Bow, East Ham Memorial Hospital and Queen Mary's Hospital. He was also an honorary lecturer at the London Hospital Medical College. Prior to his consultant appointments, he was a member of a British paedia

Bob Horton was a consultant surgeon at the United Bristol Hospitals. He was born in south London on 5 July 1917, the son of Arthur John Budd Horton, a schoolteacher, and Isabel Horton née Cotton, the daughter of a master mariner. He was educated at the Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, and studied medici

Murray Pheils was professor of surgery at the University of Sydney. He was born in Birmingham on 2 December 1917, the younger of the two sons of Elmer Theodore Pheils, an osteopath, and Lilian Mary née Cole. His father Elmer was a colourful character: he was born in Toledo, Ohio, and trained as an o

St John Michael Clive Birt was a consultant general surgeon at Jersey General Hospital. He was born on 12 February 1916. His father, Amelius Cyril Birt, was a general practitioner in Wantage. His mother, Gertrude Isabel Kidd, came from a medical family: many were doctors attached to the London Hospi

Douglas Vellacott was born on 12 November 1914, in Stoke, Devonport. His father, Harold Fitz Vellacott, MC, FRCS, was a consultant surgeon in Plymouth. His mother, Josephine Sempill, SRN, had been a sister at Poplar Hospital, London. He was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset, then for a year at Ki