Edith Whetnall was born at Hull in 1910, and trained at King's College Hospital where she graduated in 1938, taking the Conjoint Diploma in 1939, the Fellowship in 1940, and the London MS degree in 1944. She became interested in ear surgery while working at the branches of King's College Hospital at

Leon Casimir Louis Gonet was born in 1916 in Simla, where his father was deputy director-general of Indian Posts and Telegraphs. He was educated in various schools in India, and proved to be both an able student and a natural games player. In 1933 the family moved to England and Leon gained a place

Hilary (Larry) Wade was born on 13 February 1916 at 25 Park Place, Cardiff, the house where his father James (Jimmy) Wade OBE, FRCS (qv *Lives of the Fellows* 1952-64) a distinguished surgeon and anatomist had lived, and where he himself was to live and practise for over thirty years. His mother Kat

Douglas Vellacott was born on 12 November 1914, in Stoke, Devonport. His father, Harold Fitz Vellacott, MC, FRCS, was a consultant surgeon in Plymouth. His mother, Josephine Sempill, SRN, had been a sister at Poplar Hospital, London. He was educated at Sherborne School, Dorset, then for a year at Ki

Bryan Brooke pioneered the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease, especially that of ulcerative colitis. He was born on 21 February 1915 in Croydon, the son of a numismatist. Following initial schooling at Bradfield College he went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, for which he retai