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

Bijeta Chaudhuri was born in 1899 at Shillong to a Brahmin family from Sylhet. He spent his youth in Shantiniketan, matriculated from Patiala and passed his intermediate science exams from Dyal Singh College, Lahore. He graduated MB from Grant Medical College, Lahore, in 1922 then came to London for

James Forrest Shepherd was born on 3 December 1899 and educated at Aberdeen University where he graduated MB ChB, in 1922. He then spent a short time in general practice and a year as house surgeon at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Monmouthshire. In 1924 he joined the Indian Medical Service and

William Alexander Duncan Drummond was born in Cape Town on 16 September 1901 where his father was then working for the Anglo-American Tobacco Company. The family later returned to England. Having initially studied engineering and lost two fingers of his left hand in an accident at the Liverpool ship

'Mac' Crooks was born on 21 January 1909, the son of David Mackenzie Crooks. He was educated at Epworth College and studied medicine at Liverpool University, where he qualified in 1931. He held junior posts at the Northern Hospital, Liverpool, and at the Shropshire Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. He

Born at Gravesend on 26 November 1869, he qualified from the Middlesex Hospital in 1892, and was commissioned a Surgeon-Lieutenant in the RAMC on 29 January 1894 and promoted Captain on 29 January. He saw active service in China in 1900, was mentioned in dispatches and won the medal and clasp. He wa

Burton Alexander Nicol qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in May 1899, took the DPH at Cambridge in 1902, and the FRCS in 1903. He was a student at Guy's and Charing Cross Hospitals, and was house-physician at Charing Cross and resident medical officer to the Kensington Dispensary and honorary surg

Richard Ernest Waterston, the elder son of David Waterston, FRSE, FRCSE, a former Professor of Anatomy at St Andrews University, and of Isabel (née Simson), was born in Edinburgh on 26 May 1908. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University where he graduated in 1931. After resident

John Hawkes Pendered was born on 7 September 1888 at Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Wellingborough School and Caius College, Cambridge where he gained first class honours in the Natural Science Tripos in 1909. He then proceeded to the London Hospital where he did well in all hi

Philip Fulford was born in Bideford, Devon, on 20 September 1930. He was the first member of his family to enter the medical profession. His father Philip John Venton Fulford was a draper. His mother was Hilda Mary Stephens née Gigg. He was educated at Bideford Grammar School, where he became head b

Brigadier Graham Stock was an adviser in orthopaedic surgery to the director general of Army Medical Services and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich. He was born on 21 February 1937 in Chesterfield, the son of Charles Edward Stock, a foreman at Cheste

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