Desmond Kyran Mulvany was born in Portsmouth on 8 July 1907, the son of Dr John Mulvany, a general practitioner and an alderman of the City of Portsmouth, and his wife Eileen. His early education was at St John's College, Southsea, and St George's College, Weybridge, before entering King's College H

Maurice Ellis, the son of a motor engineer, who founded a milk business which later became Associated Dairies, was born on 16 September 1905 in Leeds and was educated at Rydal School, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Leeds University School of Medicine. After qualifying in 1930 he was appointed to h

Anthony Harvard Baker was born at North Walsham, Norfolk, the eldest son of the Reverend Anthony Charles Baker a Methodist minister; his second name recalled a distant relationship to John Harvard who had bequeathed his library to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the eighteenth century and had given his

Arthur Clift was born in Chelmsford on 18 December 1903, the son of Arthur and Ada, née Humphries. He received part of his education at the grammar school before the family moved to Canada. He worked on prairie farms before entering Toronto University but returned to receive his medical training at

Ambrose Stevens ('Steve') was born in Colombo, Ceylon, on 4 January 1906, the second son of William Stevens, a missionary. His early education was at the Grocers' Company School, Hackney, London, and at Breeks Memorial School, Ootacamund, South India. He then entered the London Hospital Medical Coll

Arthur Lister was born in Aberdeen on 12 February 1905. His father was a physician and Lord Lister was his great-uncle. He was educated at Lancing and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1927. He began his clinical studies that year, entering the London Hospital with a Price Univers

Francis Finlaison was born on 1 January 1906 and educated at Charterhouse, Clare College, Cambridge and St Thomas's Hospital. After qualification in 1930 he held several resident posts at St Thomas's Hospital and then became chief assistant to the obstetrical department at the same hospital. Finl

Iain Matheson was one of those unsung heroes who throughout the war and the worst of the bombing kept the civilian services going with very little assistance in the poorest parts of London. He was born on 18 November 1906 in Blackheath, South London, where his father John was a general practitioner,

James Reid was born in Bournemouth on 24 October 1906, the son of George Alexander Reid, a general practitioner, and his wife Muriel, née Hopwood. He was educated at Hailey Preparatory School in Bournemouth, and Marlborough College, Wiltshire. He then went to Oxford University and on to St George's

David Griffiths was director of orthopaedics at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Born in Y Trallwng, Wales, on 6 February 1908, his father, David, was a minister of religion and his mother, Mary Eleanor Jones, the daughter of a vet. He was educated at William Hulme's Grammar School, Manchester, and the U

Allen James Whitaker, the fifth son of Dr James Smith Whitaker who was formerly a family doctor in Great Yarmouth, was born in Hendon on 16 April 1905. His father, having been the first medical secretary of the British Medical Association, became senior medical officer at the Ministry of Health on i

Ascroft was born on 4 September 1906, the only son of James Arthur Ascroft of Bootle, Lancashire and Hannah Byers of Culton, Cumberland. He was educated at Worksop, the Middlesex Hospital, and the University of Strasbourg, qualifying in 1930; the next year he gained the gold medal at his Master of S