The son of a general practitioner, Gammie was born on 1 December 1926 at Bishop's Stortford, and educated at Bishop Stortford College, University College, Oxford and the London Hospital Medical College. After qualifying BM BCh in 1950 he spent two years as a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF medical branch and was for a time Assistant Resident at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. Thereafter he was senior surgical registrar and lecturer in the surgical unit of the London Hospital. From 1964 to 1991 he was consultant surgeon to St Richard's Hospital, Chichester and to the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst: at the latter hospital he was Chairman of the medical committee 1971-86. He was a member of the West Sussex Area Health Authority 1977-83 and of the Chichester District Health Authority 1982-87. After retirement he was emeritus consultant in general surgery to the Chichester Health Authority 1991-96. He was a liveryman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and a freeman of the City of London, and co-trustee of a number of medical charities. Outside medicine he enjoyed walking and gardening, was a Friend of Glyndebourne, a regular patron of the Chichester Festival Theatre and a member of Sussex County Cricket Club. He died on 11 July 1996, survived by his wife Elsa Verena, and a son and a daughter.