John ('Jack') Monro was the first son of James Donald Rae Monro, a general practitioner, and his wife Beatrice, née Killey, the daughter of a Liverpool shipowner. He was born on 21 March 1903 and was educated at Highgate School and Epsom College, from where he went to Pembroke College, Cambridge, to

Stanley Russell was a consultant surgeon in Orpington and Sevenoaks, Kent. He was born in Forest Hill, London, on 11 December 1903. His father, Charles Neville Russell, was a chartered accountant who founded the celebrated firm of C Neville Russell and Company. His mother was Mabell Annie Farrant. H

Robin Pilcher was born on 22 June 1902 in Northwood, Middlesex, into a family without medical connections, although his younger brother Michael was to follow him into surgery. His father was Thorold Sturtevant Pilcher and his mother Helena, née Neilson. He was a scholar at St Paul's School and a pri

Geoffrey Molyneux Fitzgibbon was born on 24 August 1903 in Swansea. He was the eldest son of Major John Augustine Fitzgibbon of the Royal Garrison Artillery and Elizabeth, née Molyneux. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, near Clitheroe, Lancashire, and later at London University at St Thomas's H

Stanley Livingstone Wilson was born at Dannevirke, New Zealand, in 1905, and was educated at Dannevirke High School where he was head prefect and captain of the cricket and rugby teams. While at school he played for Hawke's Bay at cricket and secured many prizes as well as a university entrance scho

William Elphinstone Underwood was born in Birmingham on 20 October 1903, the son of Dr Arthur Underwood MRCS, a general practitioner, and his wife, Phyllis Maud (née Fairclough). His father was a descendant of Dr Michael Underwood, physician to Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. His early edu

Born at Morriston, Glamorgan on 27 July 1901, only child of C G Dahne a general practitioner at Portardawe, Glamorgan, and Mabel Louise Thomas his wife, daughter of a Swansea dental surgeon. C G Dahne, whose father was a Danish metallurgist naturalised in Great Britain, was surgeon to the factories

Donald Barlow was born on 4 July 1905 in Leytonstone, son of Leonard Barlow, an electrical engineer, and Katherine Monteagle. His eldest brother Leonard was killed at the age of 18 after winning the MC with two bars in the Royal Flying Corps; the second became FRS and a professor at University Colle

Nicholas Attygalle was born on 14 July 1894 at Ratnapura, Ceylon, where his father Don Louis Attygalle was a government official. The Attygalles were from Madapatha, Ceylon, where they own extensive lands. Nicholas Attygalle was educated at Ratnapura, at the Royal College, Colombo, and entered the C

Edward Grainger Muir was born on 18 February 1906 in North China where his father was a medical missionary. He was educated at Eltham College, and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School where he distinguished himself by winning the Senior Broderip Scholarship and qualifying with the Conjoint Diploma