Bernard Langdon Whitaker was born on 22 October 1927, the son of Harold Whitaker, a marine superintendent, and his wife Helen née Wragg, a schoolmaster’s daughter. He was educated at Woking County Grammar School on a county major scholarship. In 1949 he graduated MB, BS from London University having

Ken Brearley started life in Hampton (Melbourne) where he attended both Hampton Primary and Hampton High schools before winning a scholarship for Years 9-12 at Scotch College, which was quite some distance away in Hawthorn. In 1948, having won a place into Medicine at the University of Melbourne in

Syed Zafar Haider was professor of surgery at King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. He was born on 27 December 1927 in Lahore; the family’s ancestral home was in Bazaar-e-Hakiman in the Bhati Gate area of Lahore. His father, Mohammad Shah, was a lawyer who also held a masters’ degree in Eng

Donald Beard was the first director of surgery at Modbury Hospital in South Australia and served with distinction in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 22 February 1925, the son of Harold Douglas Beard, a civil servant, and Alison Mavis Beard née Wright, a hous

John Gordon Smart was appointed to the Leicester Royal Infirmary as a general surgeon with an interest in urology in 1965. Later he became the first pure urologist to the hospital and was responsible for building up the urology unit to become the largest in the Trent region. Possessing an administra

Jelal Moochool Shah was born in 1886. He studied at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and in 1915 he passed the Conjoint Examination. He joined the Indian Medical Service and in 1927 attained the rank of Major. He served in Egypt and Persia in the first world war. He was honorary consultant in venereolo

Norman Winstone was a consultant surgeon at Selly Oak, Birmingham. He was born in Gidea Park, Essex, on 8 February 1924, the son of Herbert Charles Winstone, a property manager, and Kate née Robinson, a policeman's daughter. He was educated at Gidea Park College and Romford Royal Liberty School, bef

Mihir Kumar Senapati was a medical officer in Nigeria. He was born on 30 December 1925, the second son of Nilamani Senapati, an administrator in the Indian Civil Service, and Indumati Senapati née Niyogi. He was educated at the Doon School in Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh, India, where he gained the schoo

John Fairgrieve was a consultant vascular and general surgeon in Cheltenham who, in his youth, was an outstanding sprinter representing Great Britain in the 1948 Olympic Games and reaching the quarter final in the 200m. Although John was English, being born in London, he had Scottish roots as bot

Ronald Geoffrey Kay was a caring, compassionate surgeon of considerable humility who set high standards of clinical excellence, demonstrating insight and respect for his patients. He was a trusted, respected and valued colleague sought out as a mentor and teacher by many New Zealand surgeons and tra

Peter Berger was a consultant surgeon at the Good Hope Hospital, West Bromwich, Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield and Tamworth Group of Hospitals and at the North Birmingham Hospital Group. He was born in Königsberg, East Prussia as the only child of Max Mark Berger, a dental surgeon, and Gertrude Berger

Cyril Toker was chief of surgical pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. He was born in Ermelo, South Africa on 29 March 1930, the first of two sons of Philip and Fay Toker. Philip and Fay Toker immigrated as young children with their families to South Africa from Lit