Gareth Davies was a consultant surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate. As his name suggests, his background was Welsh, an ancestry of which he was inordinately proud, and he grew up within the close London Welsh community. He received his secondary education at Dulwich College, where he read classics, regarded by many at that time, and since, as an ideal education prior to reading medicine. He commenced his medical studies at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, and during his time there undertook an intercalated BSc, which sparked his interest in surgery and research. His subsequent undergraduate career was marked by winning the Jackson Burrows prize in orthopaedics, and becoming the runner-up in both the Willett medal in operative surgery and the Brackenbury scholarship in surgery. He qualified MB BS and MRCS LRCP in 1972, and undertook his surgical house officer post on the professorial unit at Bart's. He then held a lecturer post in the department of anatomy between 1974 and 1976, confirming that surgery had become his chosen career, a decision that was proved correct when he gained the Hallett prize for his performance in the primary FRCS. He then returned to clinical training, holding registrar appointments at the Hammersmith, Harold Wood, North Middlesex and St Bartholomew's hospitals. He gained the FRCS in 1978, and soon afterwards was awarded, jointly with others, the Moynihan prize of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. Between 1979 and 1982, he held a British Digestive Foundation Smith, Kline and French research fellowship in gastroenterology at St George's Hospital under the supervision of John Hermon-Taylor. He undertook research into the growth of human colonic and pancreatic tumours as xenografts in nude rats, which subsequently led to him being awarded the MS in 1983 ('Growth of human digestive-tumour xenografts in athymic nude rats', *Br J Cancer*. 1981 January; 43[1]: 53-8). He returned to clinical surgery as a senior registrar on the St Bartholomew's rotation in April 1982, completing his training programme in March 1988. During his training he particularly enjoyed working with John Griffiths, a Welsh speaking consultant surgeon. It is said they both enjoyed irritating their clinical colleagues on ward rounds by discussing the progress of Welsh patients in their native language. In 1989 Gareth was appointed as a consultant general surgeon at Thanet District General Hospital, now the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital. In the same year, he was appointed to the Court of Examiners of the College. During his time at the hospital he developed specialist colo-rectal and endocrine services, and opened the first dedicated day surgery unit in East Kent, of which he was appointed director. He was particularly interested in minimal access surgery and, following a visit to America to refine his knowledge of laser technology, he pioneered the use of the Holmium YAG laser in his hospital. Tragically, in June 1998, Gareth suffered a stroke, which forced his retirement on the grounds of ill health the following year. Despite this, he and his wife were able to enjoy overseas travel and the beaches of Kent, as well as spending time with family and friends. Gareth was married firstly to Gay, also a doctor, with whom he had two sons, Michael and Nicholas, and, secondly, to Susie, with whom he shared two step-children, Lisa and James. Gareth was regarded as having, in abundance, all the attributes of a good surgeon, namely technical competence, kindness, compassion and a congenial nature. All of this was combined with an infectious sense of humour. These attributes led to him being regarded with great affection by all who knew him. He died on 14 November 2007 at the age of 64.