Gordon Lionel Bourne was a consultant in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He was born on 3 June 1921 at Sudbury in Derbyshire, the second son of Thomas Holland Bourne, a farmer, and Lily Anne Bourne née Clewlow, a former Barts nurse. His primary scho

Graham Schofield was a consultant general surgeon in Lanarkshire. He was born on 23 December 1923 in Wandsworth, London, and was educated at Highfield Preparatory and Emmanuel School, before going to University College London to study medicine. He graduated at the age of 21 and was appointed as a ho

Anthony John Harrold was educated at University College School, London, where he had a distinguished academic record. He moved on to St Mary's Hospital Medical School and graduated there with distinction in surgery in 1946. Following resident appointments at St Mary's, Amersham, and Bradford, he too

Born at Gillingham, Kent, on 5 December 1919, Edwin Charles Gibson received his early education at King Edward VI School, Southampton, and from there won a scholarship to Charing Cross Hospital where he graduated MRCS LRCP in 1943. Following a period of residency at the Royal South Hants and Southam

Patrick Desmond O'Donoghue was a surgeon in Kenya. He was born in Kaiapoi, New Zealand, on 12 May 1922, the second son of Michael and Eva O'Donoghue. His father was a teacher and later schools inspector. Pat attended Christchurch Boys' High School, where he excelled in classics, sciences, literature

James Robinson, formerly senior surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, was born on 25 June 1921 in Brisbane, Australia. At an early age his parents moved to France, where his father, Ernest Longton Robinson, died in 1928. His mother, Mary Gordon Olive née Love, then married Rupert Shelton Cor

John Thompson Rowling was a consultant surgeon in Sheffield at the Royal Hospital and later the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. He was born in Leeds on 11 March 1921 into a family whose medical connections dated back to Elizabethan times. His father, Herbert Samuel Thompson Rowling, was one of the old s

Edwin Cook received his medical education at Liverpool University, graduating in 1940, early in the second world war. After holding resident posts at Liverpool he soon joined the RAFVR. One of his early postings was to 266 Rhodesia Squadron RAF, and his association with this squadron was to remain o

Peter Weston was a consultant accident and emergency surgeon in Nottingham. He was born in Oswestry, but spent his early years in Eastbourne, where amongst other things he taught himself to sail and thereby developed his love of the sea. He went to Chelmsford Hall Preparatory School and was then awa

Denis Lister Chadwick was born at Manchester on 30 March 1924, the son of a doctor. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University, where he graduated in 1947. After house appointments at Manchester Royal Infirmary and elsewhere he served in the medical branch of the Royal Ai

Born on 14 August 1921 at Northampton; his father was a leather factor, but his great-uncle Henry Briggs FRCS, was the first Professor of Midwifery in the University of Liverpool, and his mother's brother Hugh Reid FRCS, was surgeon to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. James's younger brother Donald Kn

John Shoesmith, consultant surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary and Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, was one of the first vascular surgeons in the UK. He was a founder member of the Vascular Society in 1966 and subsequently president in 1988. He was born on 1 July 1925 in Halifax to Harold Percy Sh