Phyllis George was a consultant general surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London and the first woman to be elected as vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons. She was born in Sedgley, Staffordshire on 18 February 1925, but, though she later travelled widely, she remained at heart a Londone

Michael McBrien was a general surgeon with an interest in urology at the West Suffolk and Newmarket hospitals. He was born on 4 July 1935 in Maidstone, Kent to Leo Patrick McBrien, a general practitioner, and Elizabeth Rosemary McBrien née Phillips, the daughter of a farmer, and had three sisters.

Cyril Cooling was a consultant surgeon at the Royal Marsden Hospital and then medical superintendent of Benenden Hospital in Kent. The second son of Frank Cooling, a newsagent, and Lilian M Cooling née Waygood, he won the coveted Bucknill scholarship to enter University College Hospital in 1941, the

Roger Blamey was professor of surgical science at Nottingham and a pioneering breast surgeon who developed the world-famous Nottingham prognostic index (NPI). He was born in London on 16 March 1935, the son of John and Cara Blamey. From Highgate School he went to Downing College, Cambridge, where he

Martin Cooper was medical director of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and a consultant general surgeon. He was born in 1947. At 14, having had his appendix removed, he decided he wanted to become a surgeon. Three years later, at Forest Grammar School in Winnersh, Berkshire, his biology teacher

Maxwell James Coleman was director of surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk

Martyn was born in London on 6 August 1935. His father, Sir Clement Price Thomas, was surgeon to King George VI, President of the BMA, the Association of Surgeons, the Royal Society of Medicine and Vice-President of the College. His mother was Dorrie Ricks. He was educated at Leighton Park and then