Born in Bristol on 20 June 1912, 'Bill' Waterfall's father was Robinson Waterfall, a chemical manufacturer of fertilisers. His mother was Mary Louisa Radley, the daughter of a schoolmaster. He was educated at Bootham School, York, where he won an entrance scholarship, but was taken ill, and passed t

Ross Bloom was born in Leeds on 2 January 1915; his father was a shopkeeper and his mother's maiden name was Fanny Castenberg. He was educated at Cardiff High School and graduated from the University of Wales in 1937, taking the London MB BS, the same year. He obtained the prize for the best first y

Herbert Spencer was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, on 8 February 1915, the son of Hubert John Spencer, a coat manufacturer, and his wife Edith Maude, née Lodge. His early education was at Highgate Junior and Senior Schools, and he entered St Mary's Hospital Medical School for his medical studies, wh

Ronald Peatfield was a former consultant surgeon at Bedford General Hospital. Born on 28 December 1912 at Wilmslow, Cheshire, his father Thomas Crompton Peatfield was a railway executive. His mother was Mabel Brayshay Hughes. He was educated at Stowe and Queen's College, Cambridge, before going to t

Ian Donaldson was born on 20 January 1914, the son of David Donaldson, a marine engineer and Margaret Jane, née Smith. He was an exceptional student especially in the study of languages. Ian studied at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School where he obtained a number of prizes. House appointments at

John Talbot was a popular and highly regarded graduate of St Mary's Hospital Medical School and surgeon at Harold Wood Hospital. Born on 12 August 1912 in Wales, he was educated at Llandovery College. Like others at Mary's he had played rugby as a schoolboy for Wales. He was in the legendary pre-sec

Patrick Michael Kelly was born in Dublin on 23 July 1912, the son of Sir Patrick Kelly, CIE, Commissioner of Police in Bombay. He was sent home with his mother who was expected to die of diabetes but she became one of the first recipients of insulin and lived on into her 80's still taking insulin! H

Wynn-Williams was born on 10 August 1911 at Middlesbrough, the son of William, a general practitioner and his wife Jane Anderson, née Brymer. He was educated at Rossall School and King's College London, where he won the Hughes prize for anatomy and Chadwick prize for clinical surgery, before complet

Edmund Henry Tregothwyn Hambly was born at Port Isaac, Cornwall, in 1914. He was educated at Blundell's and on leaving school entered St Bartholomew's where he graduated in 1937 obtaining his FRCS in the following year. Ill health prevented him from joining the forces in the second world war. He was

Arnold Aldis was a consultant surgeon and former postgraduate dean at Cardiff. He was born on 30 September 1910, in Paoning, Szechuan, China, the son of missionary parents. He qualified in medicine (with honours) from University College, London, in 1937. His ambition to return to China was thwarted

Bob Lamming was born in Hull on 6 December 1910, the son of Robert Sydney Lamming, a timber merchant's clerk, and Clara Gertrude Redfearn, a solicitor's daughter. He was educated at Bridlington School, Yorkshire, and Leeds University, where he won pre-clinical and clinical scholarships, and the Will

Born on 17 May 1914 at Wilsden, Yorkshire, George William Vause Greig was educated at Woodhouse Grove School, Apperley Bridge, and graduated in medicine with honours at Leeds in 1937. He joined the RAMC in 1939 and served in the Norway campaign of 1940 and later in India and Burma, attaining the ran