Bernard Hand was born on 21 November 1919. His father, Ernest Francis Hand, was an architect and his mother, Mary, née Searle, was the daughter of an engineer. He was descended from Sir William Hillary, founder of the lifeboat service; as a consequence he gave constant support to the RNLI throughout

Lawrence Herbert Hansen was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1929 and after early education at Palmerston Boys' High School entered the University of Otago Medical School, qualifying in 1955. After early hospital appointments in Wellington he came to England to work as surgical registrar at

Alastair Gunn was a much-loved and respected consultant general surgeon at Ashington Hospital, Northumberland, and later at its replacement, Wansbeck General Hospital. He had a major interest in colorectal disease and instigated and helped establish the NHS northern region's register of familial ade

Randolph Gilbert Beard, known as 'Randy', was the consultant surgeon in charge of the rectal department at Guy's Hospital, London. He was born on 13 August 1926 in Aldershot, Hampshire, the son of Randolph Beard, a major in the Grenadier Guards. Randy's demeanour reflected this background in no smal

Graham Sherwood Peck (also known as ‘Pecky’) was a senior surgeon at the Western General Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born in Melbourne on 15 May 1930. His father, Claude Russell Lemuel Peck, was a transport manager; his mother was Mary Queenie Peck née Houghton, a housewife. He attended Me

Nicholas David Carr (known as Nick) was born in Leeds on 15 April 1951, the son of John Allen Carr and his wife Kathleen Mary née Peel. After attending Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, he studied medicine at Bristol University graduating MB, ChB in 1974. From 1976 to 1978 he did house jo

Allan Clain was a consultant general surgeon at Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham. The son of Louis Clain, an accountant, and Lily Clain née Rose, a housewife, he was born on 21 March 1922 at Muizenberg, a seaside town near Cape Town, South Africa. He qualified in medicine in 1944 from Cape Town Univ

Jeremy Wilson was a consultant general surgeon at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup. He was born on 27 January 1932, the youngest child of Charles Paul Wilson and Margaret Fraser Wilson née Cameron. His early education was at Moffats School and Bryanston, before going up to Downing College, Cambridge in

Christopher Wilfred Venables was born on 10 March 1935 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He was the only son of Wilfred George Venables, the manager of a chain store, and his wife Norah née Rainey. Educated in Swindon, he attended the Commonweal and Headlands Grammar Schools and won a Wiltshire County scho

John Hale was a consultant general and colorectal surgeon at Redhill in Surrey. He was born into a family of market gardeners in the Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire. He showed early academic promise and attended Prince Henry's Grammar School in Evesham, where he was head boy. He then gained a schola

John Pendower was a consultant surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital, London and Mayday Hospital, Croydon. He was born on 6 August 1927, less than ten years after the end of the First World War; his father had been a teenage infantryman on the Somme. He grew up through turbulent and exciting times, and

Paul Cassell was a consultant general surgeon at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough. He was appointed in 1972 and retired in 1998; his time there can be seen in retrospect as coinciding with the heyday of the district general hospital and certainly of Wexham Park Hospital. Paul was born in south London