John Fletcher McNeill, always known as ‘Ian’, was a surgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. He was born on 15 March 1926 in Yoker, near Glasgow, the youngest of the five children of John Henry Fletcher McNeill, a teacher, and Annie McLachlan, a housewife. The family moved from Glasgow to

Norman Addison was a consultant surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary. He was born in Leeds on 26 April 1925, the son of Herbert Victor Addison and Alice née Chappell. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, where he won an exhibition and sixth form prizes in biology and chemistry. He went on to stud

Gerard Shawe, always known as 'David', was a consultant surgeon in Redhill. He was born in London on 6 February 1921, the son of Gertrude (née Morgan) and Reginald Shawe. He was educated at the local school in Mill Hill, North London, leaving at 14. Determined to study medicine, he worked for matric

Athol James Duke was born in Dunedin in 1928 and his early education was at McGlashen College and at the Otago Boys' High School where he was head prefect and played for the school first XV at rugby. He entered Otago Medical School in 1947, qualifying in 1951, and after completing officer appointmen

John Cornelius Blair Serjeant was a consultant general surgeon and urologist at Shotley Bridge General Hospital, County Durham. He was born at Masham, Yorkshire, on 17 January 1917, the son of Robert Serjeant, a surveyor of HM Customs and Excise, and Agnes, his wife, formerly Blair, who was a teache

Frank Bishop studied medicine in Melbourne and, after junior posts at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, came to England to specialise in surgery. He worked as a senior house officer at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Kent, and, after passing the final FRCS in 1955, returned to Melbourne as a registrar at t

'Sam' Mitchell was a consultant general surgeon in Swansea. He was born in Aberystwyth on 30 May 1926, where his father, Samuel, and mother, Doris née Finlay, were school teachers. He was educated at the County School in Aberystwyth and Cardiff University. His junior posts were on the professorial u

Leslie Linder was born in London on 29 October 1923 to Hyman Linder, a merchant and his wife, Anna, née Karsberg. He was educated at Westminster School and Cambridge University. In 1962 he became lecturer in anatomy in the University of Natal for two years, and then was casualty surgeon in King E