John Edward Gasson was a consultant general surgeon who worked in Cape Town, South Africa. He was born on 17 February 1924. He had a distinguished military career during the Second World War. He joined the South African Air Force in August 1941, and fought in the Middle East and Italy, becoming a major. He was awarded the DFC (the Distinguished Flying Cross) on 28 June 1944, and the DSO (Distinguished Service Order) on 24 March 1945. On 12 June 1945 he was awarded a bar to his DFC. He was demobilised in November 1945, but enlisted in the South African Air Force Special Reserves in 1947 as a captain. In 1947 he was appointed as flight commander of No 17 Squadron Cape Town, and then commanding officer of No 27 Squadron in 1950. After the war, he settled in Cape Town, where he became a distinguished surgeon, gaining his FRCS in 1954. He died 1 February 2010.