Eardley Samuel Allin was born on 26 August 1907, in Toronto, Ontario, the only son of Edgar William Allin, a surgeon, and of Rose Mary Allin (née Kember), a registered nurse. He was at primary and high schools in Edmonton before entering the University of Alberta where he took a BSc in 1927. He then

Ronald Maxwell Rawle was born in Greenham, a small village near the border between Dorset and Somerset, in 1907. When he was six his parents emigrated to Australia, taking him and his two brothers. They settled first in Canberra and then moved to Blackheath. He attended Blackheath Public School, Syd

Henry Kenneth Vernon was born on 10 December 1908, the son of Walter Vernon, a pharmacist, and his wife Sarah Ann, née Davies. He was educated at Hartlepool Grammar School and Durham University College of Medicine where he was awarded the Phillipson Scholarship. He graduated MB, BS in 1931 and was a

Andrew McDowall was born at Bradford on 22 February 1901 of parents who had been born and brought up in Wigtownshire. He was educated first at Fort William School, where he developed a great interest in history. He went on to George Watson's College, Edinburgh, and then to Edinburgh University, wher

Stanley Livingstone Spencer was born on 1 November 1907 in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Thomas Walter Spencer, a journalist, and his wife Alice Maude, née Kelly. He was educated at North Sydney Boys' High School and Sydney University, where he qualified MB BS in 1930, winning the Chapman Priz

Born in 1906 Leslie Westfield Gleadell was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, before going on with a scholarship to Melbourne University. As a youth he suffered from a disease of the hip joint, wrongly diagnosed as tuberculosis, and the prescribed long immobilisation left him with irreversible j

Murray Falconer was born in New Zealand in 1910 and received his medical education at Otago University, Dunedin, from where he graduated MB BCh in 1934 and MCh in 1938. He obtained his FRCS in 1935, a year after he graduated. In 1937 he went to the United States as a Fellow in Surgery at the Mayo Cl

Alan Sutcliffe Kerr was born in Liverpool on 31 May 1909 and educated at the Liverpool Institute for Boys and Liverpool University. He graduated MB ChB with first class honours in 1932. He chose a career in surgery and his interests were directed into the field of neurosurgery. Three years later

Ruby Grace Sharp was born in Cape Town in 1906, the third daughter of Dr Robert Sharp, a surgeon in Cape Town at that time, and was educated at Wynberg Girls' High School. She was a talented and clever girl and legend has it that she required a wheelbarrow to take home her trophies on prize-giving d

Alistair Campbell McEachern was born on 30 June 1904 at Mt Gambier, South Australia. He was the son of Alexander McLean McEachern, a grazier and his wife, Catherine Jane, née McFarlane. He was educated at Mt Gambier High School and entered the Adelaide High School with the Thomas Price Scholarship i

George Swinburne was born on 3 February 1907, second of the three children of G A Swinburne, at Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, and was educated at Melbourne High School and University, where he graduated in medicine in 1930 from Ormond College, winning several scholarships. Swinburne was a keen at

Munro Black was born on 23 January 1909 in Harton, County Durham, the son of Ernest Black, a clothier and amateur artist. He was educated at South Shields High School and Durham University Medical School, graduating with honours in 1931 and being awarded the Philipson Scholarship for the best marks