Claude Brun was a consultant surgeon in Blackburn. He was born on 23 August 1917 in Mauritius. His father, René Brun, was a bank clerk in Port Louis who was descended from a captain in the Napoleonic navy. His mother, Jeanne Brun, was also of French descent. Claude was the eldest of six children. Hi

Carey Smith was surgeon superintendent of Stratford Hospital, Taranaki, New Zealand. He was born in Slad, near Stroud, in Gloucestershire, on 5 June 1917. His father Kenred Smith was a missionary in the Baptist Missionary Society and his mother was Ethel May Walker. He was educated at the Birches, a

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

Joseph Peacock was born in Brentford, London, on 22 October 1918, the only child (two sisters having died) of Henry James Peacock, general manager of the Great Western Railway, and of Florence Peacock, née Milton. After education at Reading School and Bristol Grammar School he entered Birmingham Uni

John Howard Egbert Verdon qualified in 1941 from St Thomas's Hospital in London. He held house appointments at the East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital and the Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Hospital. He was then appointed surgical registrar to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and eventually became senior

Wallace Black was born at 14 Park View Road, Finchley on 12 September 1917; his father, James Black was a company director and his mother was Jane Duckworth, whose father was an electrical engineer. Black was educated at Finchley County School and at King's College London, and Westminster Hospital M

Richard Dennis Wilkins studied medicine at Oxford University and St Thomas's Hospital, London. He qualified MRCS in 1941 and FRCS in 1948. Returning to Canada he entered family practice while also doing some general surgery. He became consultant surgeon to the Marine General Hospital, Goderich, the

Charles Edward Drew, eldest son of Edwin Frank Drew, an accountant, and of Eunice (née Lloyd-Davies) was born in Lambeth on 15 December 1916. He was educated at an elementary school in Stockwell and at Westminster City School and then secured an open scholarship in 1935 to King's College, London, an

John Holmes Tasker was born in London on 20 January 1917, the son of Dr Ludwig Tasker, a general practitioner, and May, née Gadsden, a registered nurse. He was educated at Epsom College before entering Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1935 with the Haviland exhibition. After completing pre-clin