William Michael Cooke was a consultant general surgeon at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough. He was born on 16 June 1937 in Derby City Hospital, where his father, Gordon Cooke, became the youngest medical superintendent. Gordon was from the Isle of Man, and his father was a Methodist min

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

Norman Adrian Boyd was born on 1 May 1934 in Hendon, the son of the Reverend Norman Robert Boyd who was a vicar in the Church of England and his wife Kathleen née Humby. After attending Arnold House Preparatory School in North London, he went to Marlborough College and then studied medicine at Chari

Alan Rhodes was a consultant in general and paediatric surgery in Coventry. He was born in Wolverhampton on 1 April 1936 to Florence Rhodes née Levers, a secretary, and Wilfred Rhodes, a clerk. After a stellar performance at Wolverhampton Grammar School, he entered Birmingham Medical School in 1953.

Leslie H Blumgart (‘Les’) was one of the world leaders in hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery. Known affectionately as ‘the professor’ by his many trainees, he was a dominant figure in the evolution of HPB surgery around the world for almost 50 years and built one of the great HPB clinical and ac