Clem Grimshaw was a thoracic surgeon in Oxford. He was born on 15 May 1915, in Batley, Yorkshire, to a wool family and was educated at Woodhouse Grove, the local Methodist school, where he learned to play the organ. A Latin master encouraged him to go to Edinburgh. On qualifying, he spent a year i

Lawrence Whytehead was a thoracic surgeon in Manitoba, Canada. He was born in Easty, Kent, on 7 February 1914 and educated at St Edmund’s and Charterhouse. He went on to study medicine at Oriel College, Oxford, and then Middlesex Hospital, qualifying in 1938. During the Second World War he served in

William Glasgow Ferguson, or 'Fergie' as he was known, was a thoracic surgeon in Victoria, Australia. He was born in Whitley Bay, Northumberland, on 4 March 1919, the son of William and Sara Ferguson. He studied medicine at Durham, where he qualified in 1942. After four months as a house surgeon at

Michael Meredith Brown was a consultant thoracic surgeon at Midhurst Hospital. He was born on 1 May 1918 in Croydon, the first son of Bernard Meredith, an analytic chemist in the brewing industry, and Doris née Cortazzi, a bank clerk. He was educated at St Anselm’s Preparatory School, Croydon, Bradf

Walter Gordon was a thoracic surgeon. He was born on 11 January 1916 in Modderfontein, South Africa, the third child and second son of Herman Gordon, a confectionery manufacturer and businessman, and Anna née Rabinowitz , a housewife. He was educated at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg, and then

Hugoe Matthews was an eminent thoracic surgeon who was an expert on the diseases of the oesophagus; he was also an authority on the Victorian nature writer and mystic Richard Jefferies. He was educated at Sutton County Grammar School where, even as a teenager, he knew he wanted to be a surgeon. He q

Raymond Dobson was a consultant thoracic surgeon who worked in the Newcastle upon Tyne region. He was born in Darlington on 24 October 1919, the son of Albert Dobson, an accountant in a bank, and Dorothy Dobson née Robson. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle and was then awarded

Born at Poona in 1916, the son of a doctor who founded the Bel Air Sanatorium, Panchgane, Poona, he received his medical education at St Bartholomew's Hospital, qualifying in 1937. After house appointments he worked at Harefield Hospital, Middlesex as assistant to Sir Thomas Dunhill, and eventually

Born at Sunderland, Co Durham on 24 December 1900, the son of Laurence O'Shaughnessy, inspector of customs and excise, and Mary Westgate, his wife, who died on 21 March 1941. He was educated at South Shields High School for Boys and left at the age of sixteen to go to Durham College of Medicine, his

Norman Barrett was born in Adelaide, Australia, on 16 May 1903. He was one of the great pioneers of thoracic surgery. After spending his early years in Australia he came to England and was educated at Eton where he was distinguished in both academic and athletic fields. He proceeded to Trinity Colle

William Corbitt Barnsley was educated at South Shields High School and graduated in medicine from Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne, where, as an undergraduate, he won many prizes and medals. After a period at Newcastle General Hospital, where he gained general experience in surgery, he proceed

Born at Allahabad, India, of Canadian parents who were missionaries, on 24 January 1905, he won a scholarship to the University of Saskatchewan, graduated with silver and gold medals, and was a demonstrator of physiology. He won a Rhodes scholarship to St John's College, Oxford, where he graduated w