Clem Grimshaw was a thoracic surgeon in Oxford. He was born on 15 May 1915, in Batley, Yorkshire, to a wool family and was educated at Woodhouse Grove, the local Methodist school, where he learned to play the organ. A Latin master encouraged him to go to Edinburgh. On qualifying, he spent a year i

Bill Cleland was a pioneering thoracic surgeon who helped develop open heart surgery in London in the 1950s. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 30 May 1912, the son of Sir John Burton Cleland, professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide, and Dora Isabel Robson. He was proud to be th

James Daniel Hardy was an organ transplant pioneer and the first chairman of the department of surgery and surgeon in chief at the University Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi. Board certified by both the American Board of Surgery and the Board of Thoracic Surgery and a fellow of the American Col

William Glasgow Ferguson, or 'Fergie' as he was known, was a thoracic surgeon in Victoria, Australia. He was born in Whitley Bay, Northumberland, on 4 March 1919, the son of William and Sara Ferguson. He studied medicine at Durham, where he qualified in 1942. After four months as a house surgeon at

Mary Shepherd was a former consultant thoracic surgeon at Harefield Hospital, Middlesex. She was born at Forest Hill, London, on 4 July 1933, the youngest of the two children of George Raymond Shepherd, an electrical and mechanical engineer, and Florence May Savile, whose father and grandfather had

Ronnie Belsey was a consultant thoracic surgeon, known worldwide for his innovative techniques in oesophageal surgery. He was born on 2 April 1910 in London, the son of Herbert Robert Belsey, a dental surgeon, and Marie Martha Annie née Moller. He was educated at Woodbridge School, Suffolk. There he

Leslie Temple was a consultant thoracic surgeon at Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool. He was born in London in 1915 and studied medicine at University College Hospital. After qualifying in 1939, he completed house posts in Aylesbury and Canterbury, and was then a resident surgical officer at Wigan Infi

Bertram John Bickford was a consultant surgeon in Liverpool. He was born in Tavistock, Devon, on 17 October 1913, and was to become the third generation of his family to enter medicine. His grandfather, Thomas Leaman Bickford, was a Surgeon Captain RN. His father, Bertram Raleigh Bickford, was a GP

John Hayward was a thoracic surgeon based in Melbourne. He was born in East Brunswick, Melbourne, on 16 July 1910. His father, William Isaac Hayward, was a schoolmaster, and his mother, Ellen Grace née Maling, was a nurse. His education was marked at every step by scholarships and prizes. He won a s

Doreen Nightingale was a consultant thoracic surgeon at University College Hospital, London, and the National Temperance Hospital. She was a medical student at University College London, gaining her conjoint in 1939 and her MB BS in 1940, when she was the McGrath scholar in medicine. She went on to

Peter Lance Brunnen was a consultant thoracic surgeon to the North East Regional Hospital Board, Scotland. He was born in Rosyth, Scotland, on 19 July 1917. His father, John Ewart Brunnen, was an electrical engineer; his mother, Elsie Victoria Augusta Brunnen née Lance was the daughter of an inspect

James Howard Brown was a thoracic surgeon in Adelaide, South Australia. He was born on 8 November 1922 in Adelaide, the son of Thomas Howard Brown and Elsie Davey Brown née James. He was educated at the Christian Brothers College and Rostrevor College and went on to study medicine at the University