David Alan Aubrey was a consultant general surgeon at Llandough Hospital, Penarth and the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. He was born in Cwmrhydyceirw, Swansea on 5 April 1938, the only child of William Ernest Aubrey, a headmaster, and Mary Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Aubrey née Davies. He was educated at Bishop Gore Grammar School from 1949 to 1956 and was accepted to study medicine at King’s College. He used to take pleasure in informing family and friends that, as a result of his demanding extracurricular activities, which included late nights playing poker and going to the opera, at the end of his first term he needed to have a friendly discussion with the dean about the suitability of medicine as a career as he had obtained only 8% in the anatomy examination. He was determined to succeed and qualified from King’s College in London in 1961. After house jobs at King’s, he held posts as a surgical senior house officer and registrar at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, where he worked for and was significantly influenced by Eric Sturdy, a general surgeon a few years older who was very interested in training surgeons in Wales. He worked as a registrar and senior registrar at the United Cardiff Hospitals and the Royal Gwent Hospital. During higher training he worked as a research assistant to Patrick Forrest when he researched into gastric acid secretion, then considered to play a crucial role in upper GI ulceration. He was awarded an MS (London) in 1969 for his thesis on this work entitled ‘The effects of histamine acid phosphate and pentagastrin on human gastric secretion’. Following this, whilst holding a Buswell fellowship, he spent a year researching into secretion in canine gastric pouches at the University of New York. This work was done under the supervision of Worthington C Schenk, professor of surgery at the University of New York at Buffalo, and he was awarded an MD (London) for his thesis on this work on the ‘Secretory responses of canine gastric pouches following the administration of acetic acid, alcohol, bile, a steroid hormone and an antihistamine’. He used to joke that his remarkable work output at Buffalo was due to the exceptionally cold weather that forced him to stay indoors, and the high calorie input of Italian American pepperoni pizza, which he was introduced to by his lab technician, Dominic Amato. During his career he published over 40 scientific papers. Shortly after returning to Wales from Buffalo, he was appointed as a consultant in general surgery at Llandough Hospital, Penarth and the University Hospital of Wales. At Llandough he soon established a large and varied general surgical NHS practice that owed much to his detailed knowledge of anatomy and pathology, experience, dexterity, speed and expert surgical technique. Many young surgeons sought to work for him as he developed a great reputation for teaching, supervising, mentoring and subsequently placing his trainees in good posts. He was one of the last generation of general surgeons, and relinquished endocrine, urological and vascular surgery practice to younger colleagues as these subspecialties developed and new consultant subspecialty appointments were made. Consultant surgical colleagues would often ask for his opinion, and sometimes his assistance, with difficult surgical cases. He became the surgeons’ and physicians’ surgeon and was an active member of the Welsh Surgical Society. His exceptionally good NHS service provision resulted in a large number of referrals to his private practice, which he carried out at St Winifred’s Hospital and later at the Cardiff BUPA Hospital. In 1970, he married Eunice Elizabeth Margaret Williams, a psychiatrist, who predeceased him in 2020. They had two daughters, Euriona and Eurwen. In retirement, Alan wrote a series of historical novels set in third century Sicily, the *Crucible of empire* series. He also enjoyed some travelling with Eunice and spending time with their four grandchildren. He died on 6 December 2024 at the age of 86.