Robert Maclaren was born in Glasgow on 27 October 1923 and was educated at Glasgow Academy. His preclinical medical education was at King's College, London, before qualifying from the Westminster Hospital. After two years of resident appointments at the Westminster and Royal National Orthopaedic Hos

Christopher John Lester Thurgar studied medicine at University College Hospital, London, where he was an assistant in the surgical unit and the Cancer Registry. He became director of the Regional Radiotherapy Service and radiotherapist to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. He was made a Fell

John McArthur was born in Doncaster in 1911 and was one of three brothers who trained at Guy's Hospital. He graduated in 1934 and after several resident appointments at Guy's, including a house surgeon job with Sir Heneage Ogilvie, he decided on a career in surgery after demonstrating physiology. At

Evan Sherrah-Davies, who was to make his career in radiotherapy, was born on 8 October 1922 in Rossendale, Lancashire. He was the son of the local general practitioner, also called Evan, who proudly kept a meticulous record of Evan's achievements, and his wife Amelia, née Oakley. After a series of p

Arthur Jones was a pioneering radiotherapist. He was born in Wrexham, North Wales, on 1 February 1919. His father, Edward Hugh Jones, died when he was young and he was brought up by his mother, Margaret Lloyd Jones. He was educated at Grove Park School, where he became interested in physics, and his

Denys Sambrook did his medical studies at St Thomas's Hospital where he qualified in 1938. After junior posts in orthopaedics he decided to train as a radiotherapist and for a time worked as a consultant in radiation oncology at St John Regional Hospital, New Brunswick, Canada. After being appointed

Alexander Digges La Touche, the son of a general practitioner, was born at Ossett, Yorkshire, on 31 December 1899. On leaving Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield, he entered the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth before serving as an Executive Officer in the Royal Navy during the fi

Evan Sherrah-Davies went from Cambridge to the Westminster Hospital where he qualified in 1947. After house jobs he did his National Service in the RAF as a surgical specialist. After returning to civilian life he specialised in radiotherapy and became consultant radiotherapist to the Christie Hospi

Margaret Dorothy Snelling was a consultant radiotherapist at Middlesex Hospital and the first female President of the European Association of Radiology. She was born on 20 September 1914, and educated at Wimbledon High School for Girls. She went on to study at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medic

Born on 3 September 1908, Tony Green studied medicine at Otago University before coming to England in 1935 to specialise in radiotherapy. He held a number of junior posts and studied at the Radium Institute. A firm belief of his was that the effective treatment of malignancy should cause as little u

Gwen Hilton was born on 22 September 1898, the daughter of Micaiah John Muller Hill, FRS, Professor of Pure Mathematics, University College, London, and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of London. Her mother was Minnie Grace, daughter of Marriott Ogle Tarbotton of Nottingham. Ther

Pieter Van Miert was born in Ireland and educated in Dublin at the Catholic University School and at University College where he graduated MB with first class honours in 1943. He immediately joined the RAMC and served in England and India till the end of the second world war in 1945. During the next