Born 30 April 1894 at Braila, Rumania, second of the six children and eldest son of Joseph Freeman, coach-builder and inventor, and Sophia Fremovitch, his wife. He was brought to England in infancy, and educated at day schools at Hastings and Croydon, and matriculated at Battersea Polytechnic. He wo

Reginald Walter Patrick Hosford was born on 23 June 1898, the eldest son of Dr B Hosford, a general practitioner in Highgate and elder brother of John P Hosford, FRCS, surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital. He was educated at Highgate School where he was a foundation scholar and was admitted to St Ba

The elder son of the Rev Walter Sackett, of Ealing. As a boy he suffered from spinal trouble and lay for many months in a prone position, during which he kept his mind well employed. He received his professional training at St Bar¬tholomew's Hospital, where his career was brilliant. He won the Bentl

Frankis Tilney Evans was born on 9 March 1900. He trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital but in the first world war was seconded to the RNVR during his clinical course, serving in destroyers on convoy duty and in minesweepers. Thus began a lifelong love of the sea and ships. Returning to Bart's he gra

Born at Birmingham on 12 December 1897 son of Isaac Shaw JP, he was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and at St John's College, Cambridge where he was an open entrance scholar and won a foundation scholarship and Wright's prize and took first-class honours in the first part of the Natural

John Taylor Blackburn was born in Leeds on 3 July 1898 the son of Harry Blackburn, a headmaster, and Edith (née Brandlein). He attended Leeds Grammar School and later entered Leeds University with a scholarship. At the end of the first world war he served as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Ar

John Bertram Gilchrist Muir was born on 18 July 1899 at Kai Yuan, Manchuria, where his father, who had qualified in Edinburgh, was a medical missionary. He was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, Eltham College in London and the Middlesex Hospital. His medical training was interrupted by

Geraldine Mary Barry was born on 4 October at Wakes Colne, Essex, the daughter of the Reverend Walter and Anna Barry. She was educated at Queen Anne's School, Caversham, and was originally destined to read mathematics at Cambridge, but this was changed by the visit of Professor Winifred Cullis (Prof

Andrew McKie Reid was born on 14 April 1893 and educated at Liverpool University. In 1914 he interrupted his undergraduate career to be commissioned in the King's Liverpool Regiment, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 when serving on the Somme with the Machine Gun Corps. In 1918 he was wound

He was born in London on 29 August 1896 son of Henry John Jeaffreson, insurance broker, and his wife née Gregory. The Jeaffresons came from Framlingham, Suffolk, and there had been several well-known surgeons in the family; William Jeaffreson FRCS (1844) performed the first successful ovariotomy in

Calvert Gwillim was born on 26 October 1899 in Ceylon. After spending his childhood on that island he was educated first at Swansea and later at St Bartholomew's Hospital, from where he qualified in 1921. He first became a house surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary where he gained considerable exper

George Gordon Bruce was born at Aberdeen on 25 August 1891. He was educated at Fordyce Academy and Aberdeen University and was awarded the Keith Gold Medal in surgery, graduating MB ChB Aberdeen in 1915. He then served as a Captain RAMC in France and the Dardanelles and was mentioned in dispatches i