Born at Gillingham, Kent, on 5 December 1919, Edwin Charles Gibson received his early education at King Edward VI School, Southampton, and from there won a scholarship to Charing Cross Hospital where he graduated MRCS LRCP in 1943. Following a period of residency at the Royal South Hants and Southam

Patrick Desmond O'Donoghue was a surgeon in Kenya. He was born in Kaiapoi, New Zealand, on 12 May 1922, the second son of Michael and Eva O'Donoghue. His father was a teacher and later schools inspector. Pat attended Christchurch Boys' High School, where he excelled in classics, sciences, literature

John Thompson Rowling was a consultant surgeon in Sheffield at the Royal Hospital and later the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. He was born in Leeds on 11 March 1921 into a family whose medical connections dated back to Elizabethan times. His father, Herbert Samuel Thompson Rowling, was one of the old s

Peter Weston was a consultant accident and emergency surgeon in Nottingham. He was born in Oswestry, but spent his early years in Eastbourne, where amongst other things he taught himself to sail and thereby developed his love of the sea. He went to Chelmsford Hall Preparatory School and was then awa

John Shoesmith, consultant surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary and Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, was one of the first vascular surgeons in the UK. He was a founder member of the Vascular Society in 1966 and subsequently president in 1988. He was born on 1 July 1925 in Halifax to Harold Percy Sh

David Stirk was a consultant general surgeon in Barnstaple and an authority on golf. He was born in Exeter on 1 March 1916, the son of a doctor. He was educated at Blundell’s and studied medicine at St Mary’s Hospital. After five years in the RAMC, three of which were spent in India, he returned t

In the course of his career, Douglas Roy held appointments as a professor of surgery on three continents. He was born on 10 April 1925, the son of Arthur Roy and Edith Mary (née Brown). Educated at Paisley Grammar School, he went to Glasgow University to study medicine. After house appointments, he

Sir Patrick McEwen Forrest was regius professor of clinical surgery at the University of Edinburgh. Pat, as he was known to all, was a giant of British and international surgery, and his contributions to the management of breast cancer were immense. He was born in Lanarkshire, the son of Andrew

Charles Humphrey Jules Rey was a general surgeon in Guernsey. He was born on 15 August 1915, in Bognor Regis, into a family of French origins. His father, Jules Frederick Rey, was a general practitioner. His mother was Bertha Maud née Bevan. He was sent as a boarder to his preparatory school and fro

Richard Anthony Payne, known to all as 'Tony', was a consultant general surgeon at the North Middlesex Hospital in London. He was born on 17 July 1921, in Worcester, the son of Herbert George Payne, a master at Haberdasher's Aske's School, and Jessica Sweeney. He was educated at his father's school

John Edward Holgate was born in Vizagapatam, India, on 21 October 1921, the son of Maurice James Holgate, who was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Medical Service. His mother was Miss Florence Polyxenie Marsden. John was sent to Epsom College and then to St Bartholomew's Hospital graduating MB BS