Guy Blackburn was born on 20 November 1911 in Harrogate, the eldest son of Dr A E Blackburn, a general practitioner, who later moved to Beckenham, Kent. Guy was educated at Rugby (without great exposure to the game!), Clare College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Medical College. At Clare he took u

Francis Martin was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on 8 June 1911 the only son of Arthur Martin, a doctor, and Margaret (née Raby) whose father was a metal merchant in Manchester. Francis had three sisters, one a doctor, and his uncle was Sir George Martin of Leeds who gave the desk of Lord Moynihan to

Arthur Bullough was born on 15 January 1910 in Wigan. He qualified from Manchester University in 1934. After junior posts, he joined the RAMC and was in command of no.10 Field Surgical Unit. After the war, he returned to Manchester to become consultant surgeon at the Hope Hospital, Salford, and Tame

Brian McNeill Truscott was born in Hampstead on 29 February 1912, the son of Samuel John Truscott, Professor of Mining Engineering at the Royal School of Mines and Mary Truscott (née Vaughan). He was educated at Oundle School and the Middlesex Hospital where he held resident appointments after quali

Born on 5 October 1910 in Lanchowfu, Kansu Province, China, he was the elder son of Albert Penard Laycock, a medical missionary and Winifred, née Hingston. He was educated at St Paul's School, West Kensington, where he was a Scholar. He gained scholarships to St John's College, Cambridge and to St T

Charles Geoffrey Rob was born at Skipton Hall, Skipton, Thirsk, Yorkshire on 23 April 1909. His father was Henry Rob, a farmer, and his mother was Muriel Carter Mitchell, whose father was a general practitioner. He was a cousin of Charles Granville Rob, the vascular surgeon, who was Professor in Lon

Edward Drake's life spanned a period of great change. He was born on 30 April 1910 in South Shields into a very different world from that which he left in 1992. He was educated at the Leys School and Jesus College, Cambridge, before entering St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, where he passed

William Beattie was a consultant surgeon in Liverpool. He was born in Sheffield on 1 February 1911. He was the second child of James Martin Beattie, Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Liverpool and Margaret Crow née Kettle. He was educated at Fettes, from which he won an open exhibition

Harry McGladdery was born on 9 September 1911 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, to Kevin McGladdery, a farmer and landowner, and Margaret Wilson, a schoolteacher. He was educated at Walthamstow Technical College and Sir George Monoux School, before entering St Bartholomew's Hospital, one of

Hugh Fraser Anderson was born in Manchester on 19 April 1910, the son of William Thomson Anderson, a mining electrical engineer, and his wife, Madeleine, née Grubb. He was educated at King William's College in the Isle of Man. In 1929 he gained an entrance exhibition to Caius College, Cambridge, and

'Tim' Merrington was an accomplished surgeon whose career was blighted but whose spirit was undimmed by multiple sclerosis. Within four years of becoming consultant surgeon to University College Hospital, an appointment for which his earlier achievements had long marked him out, he developed the fir

Stanley Aylett was a distinguished bowel surgeon. He was born in Islington, north London, on 8 July 1911, the youngest son of Arthur John Aylett, a building contractor of the firm John Aylett and son, founded by Stanley's grandfather in the 1850s. His mother was Hannah Josephine née Henman. He was e