Harold George Alexander had a distinguished career in the Indian Medical Service. He was first in the entrance examination following appointments as house surgeon, casualty surgical officer and senior demonstrator of anatomy at Middlesex Hospital. He entered the Indian Medical Service as Lieutenant

Albert Ernest Coates was born on 28 January 1895 at Ballarat, Victoria. His father was a minor postal official and his grandparents had emigrated from Suffolk and Cornwall, attracted by the news of the gold discovery. Leaving school at the age of eleven he decided early to become a doctor and he

Vrasapillai Gabriel was born on 18 December 1885 in the town of Mannar in Northern Ceylon. He came from a well known Northern family who were the hereditary administrators in the day of the British Raj. His father was Mudaliyar V Varsapillai JP, UPM, Adigar of Musale. He was born into a family of tw

Hisham Ismail was born in Heliopolis, Cairo, on 28 August 1947, the second son of Mohammed Ismail, a civil aviation engineer and general manager of Cairo airport. His early education was at Heliopolis Secondary School before entering Ain Shams Medical School, Cairo, where he obtained honours in surg

Joseph Lannon was born on 11 March 1911. He was educated at the University of Witwatersrand and after qualifying in 1934 proceeded to train as a surgeon, passing the FRCS in 1938. During the second world war he joined the New Zealand forces and served in the New Zealand General Hospital in North Afr

Douglas Harold Barnbrook, known as 'Barney', was a consultant general surgeon and professor of anatomy at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He studied medicine at Birmingham University, gaining his MRCS LRCP in 1946. He passed his FRCS in 1951 and in the same year emigrated to H

John Pegington was born at Pontypool, Gwent, on 10 September 1934, the only child of Arthur John Pegington, a building contractor, and Edith May, née Pearce, the daughter of a cobbler. He recalled growing up surrounded by coal mining and music and, after education at Pentnewynydd Primary School and

Jack Heselson was born on 4 January 1910 in Cape Town, and after his schooling at Wynberg Boys' High School attended the Univesity of Cape Town, where he graduated BA in 1929 and MB ChB in 1933, obtaining distinctions in the final examination and the degree with honours. After his internship at Some

Alwynne Rowlands was born in Launceston, Tasmania on 19 July 1905 and after attending the Launceston Church of England Grammer School he entered Melbourne University from which he graduated MB, BS in 1930. After resident posts at the Alfred Hospital he came to England where he was resident surgical

A consultant surgeon in south Teesside, 'Sam' Mottershead was a colourful, amusing and forthright person who contributed much to surgery and was a great exponent of clinical anatomy. He was born in Stockport on 5 December 1914, and received his medical education in Manchester, gaining the Tom Jones

Jacques ('Jack') Loeb was chief of surgery at the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and also an author and anatomist. He was born in Berlin on 31 August 1925, the son of Joseph Loeb, founder of Loeb and Sutheim, one of the most prominent furriers in Europe, and Else

Theodore Phillips Welch was born on 15 October 1932. He studied medicine at London University and University College Hospital Medical School, graduating MB, BS in 1958. He did house jobs at the Royal Northern Hospital in London and Barnet General Hospital before passing the fellowship of the college