John Michael Powley was a consultant general surgeon in Eastbourne. He was born in London on 23 January 1929, the only child of Richard John Powley, an engineer, and Winifred Rose Powley née Shortell. He was a pupil at the Strand Grammar School in Tulse Hill, London. His time there coincided with the Second World War and for much of it the school was evacuated to Effingham, Surrey, where he lodged with a family who had a son of the same age and with whom he was to have a lifelong friendship. He left school at the early age of 17 to read medicine at King’s College, London, from where he graduated in 1951. A preregistration year at King’s was followed by two years at East Ham working in junior surgical posts. It was here he worked for a while with A J Heriot, who was to have a considerable influence on his future career. Between 1953 and 1955 his National Service was spent as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was stationed for the whole period in Singapore, his time there coinciding with the Malayan Emergency. For a period, he was seconded to Luang in Malaya, and it was here that he gained considerable experience in the management of major trauma and particularly with gunshot wounds. Whilst a student he played tennis for the hospital and after his appointment to Eastbourne he took up golf. He enjoyed the social side of the game, was reasonable off the tee, but his game tended to deteriorate the closer he got to the green. He had another talent; Morse code. His mother, Winifred, was blind and deaf for the last years of her life. Fortunately, as a young woman she had been a telegraphist so was now able to receive messages in code transmitted to a hand-held device. John’s speed of delivery rapidly improved! John died, after a long illness, on 29 April 2018 at the age of 89, and was survived by his wife, Kristine, whom he married in 1961, and three children, Michelle, Jonathan, and Mark.