Harland Rees was born on 21 September 1909 at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, into a medical family. His father, David Charles Rees, was a specialist in tropical medicine and had served in Lugard's frontier force, which kept the French at bay in West Africa in 1897. Four years later, he went to South

Tony Low was born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, on 27 June 1940. His father, David Irving Low, was a general practitioner. His mother was Dorothy Campbell née Byrns. He was educated at the Scots College, Sydney, and St Andrew's College, University of Sydney. He did junior posts at the Royal Princ

William Eric Marcus Mitchell was born at Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, on 29 April 1897, the son of Dr John Finlay Mitchell, a medical practitioner and Anna, nee Shaw. His early education was at Campbell College, Belfast, and after leaving school he joined the Royal Irish Rifles, servi

James Laurence Lewis was a consultant surgeon and urologist for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust based at Royal Tunbridge Wells. He was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents, Arthur Lewis and Evelyn Lewis née Eisner, moved to London when he was 14 and he went to St Paul’s School. H

Richard Ticehurst was a consultant general surgeon and urologist in Hastings, Sussex. He was born on 3 November 1917 into an old medical Sussex family renowned for its expertise in English wildlife, his father having written the seminal work on swans. He had an older brother, Hugh, who became a loca

John Cornelius Blair Serjeant was a consultant general surgeon and urologist at Shotley Bridge General Hospital, County Durham. He was born at Masham, Yorkshire, on 17 January 1917, the son of Robert Serjeant, a surveyor of HM Customs and Excise, and Agnes, his wife, formerly Blair, who was a teache

Ian Hamilton was a consultant general surgeon and later consultant urologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro. He was born in Belfast as his father, William James Hamilton, an Irishman himself, wanted him to be eligible to play rugby for Ireland - regrettably something he never achieved. Ian wa

James Oldfield was born in Sunderland on 10 July 1923. His father was Thomas Oldfield, a shipwright, and his mother was Annie, née Cockerill-Lawrence. He attended Bede Collegiate School, Sunderland, and then went to Durham University to study medicine on a Miners' Association Scholarship. He attende

Athol James Duke was born in Dunedin in 1928 and his early education was at McGlashen College and at the Otago Boys' High School where he was head prefect and played for the school first XV at rugby. He entered Otago Medical School in 1947, qualifying in 1951, and after completing officer appointmen

William Houston was born in Newry, County Down, Eire, on 7 October 1916, the son of William Houston, a wholesale draper, and his wife Hilda, née Robinson, the daughter of a hotel proprietor. He was educated at St Andrew's College, Dublin, and later at Trinity College, to which he gained an entrance

John Coxon was a consultant urologist in Halifax, West Yorkshire. He was born in Cambridge. His father, Thomas Coxon, was an industrial chemist with ICI; his mother was Florence Madelaine Proctor Coxon née Lucas. He was educated at Sedbergh School in Cumbria and then studied medicine at St Thomas’s

Norman Murdoch Matheson was born in Stanway and was educated at Wellington College, New Zealand, and despite a serious rugger injury which necessitated six months in hospital he joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and served in an infantry battalion in France in 1918. He was demobilised in 19