Michael Harmer was consultant surgeon to the Royal Marsden, Paddington Green Children's and St Andrew's Hospitals. He was born in London on 6 July 1912, the third son of William Douglas Harmer, a distinguished surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital. His mother, May Hedley, was the daughter of John Hed

Leslie Frederick William Salmon, known as 'Sam', was a consultant otolaryngologist at Guy's Hospital. He was born on 10 December 1913, in Shepherd's Bush, London, where his father was a businessman. He was educated at Rutlish School and Guy's, where he won the Charles Oldham prize in ophthalmology.

John Parry was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, on 8 May 1914. His father, William Thomas Parry, was a barrister who died in 1917. His mother, Constance Esther née Daniel, had been a teacher of domestic science. His mother married Thomas Davies, a general practitioner, in Cardiff in 1920. John was e

David Richmond was an orthopaedic surgeon in Burnley. He was born on 1 September 1912 in Stockport, where his father, George, was Manchester’s last private Royal Mail contractor. His mother was Edith Lilian née Hitchin. He was educated at Stockport Grammar School and went up to University of Manches

Benjamin Rank was considered by many to be the father of plastic surgery in Australia. He was born on 14 January 1911 in Heidelberg, Victoria, where his father, Wreghitt Rank, owned a grain store and mill. His mother was Bessie née Smith. He was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, and Ormond Coll

Raymond Ramsay was born on 19 August 1916 at Peddie, South Africa. He was the youngest child and second son of Alexander Orlando Ramsay, the owner of a trading post, and of his wife Florence, née Tanner. Both parents were born in England; his father (the twelfth child of a preparatory school headmas

Alan Graham Apley was born in London on 10 November 1914, the youngest son of a Jewish immigrant tailor from Poland, Samuel Apley. His mother was Mary Hilda, nee Tandos. He attended St Ethelburga's school where he came top of all London in the eleven-plus equivalent of the day. He subsequently atten

Kenneth Dalliwall was a much respected consultant orthopaedic surgeon who served many hospitals in the north east London area over the years. He worked at the Whipps Cross, Connaught and Wanstead hospitals, and at the Walthamstow and Loughton Children's hospitals. He was also an assistant surgeon at

Percy Jayes, an internationally known and respected plastic surgeon, was born on 26 June 1915, the first son of Thomas Harris Jayes, a butcher and farmer. His mother, Jessie May, was a daughter of a master mariner. He had one younger brother. Educated at Quernmore School, Bromley, and Merchant Taylo

Hughlings Jackson, a distant cousin of the great neurologist, was born on 3 October 1912, the youngest of the five children of William Herbert Jackson, a former master mariner who owned a stevedoring business in London and later worked for the Mission to Seamen. His mother was Beatrice née Walker. F

John Ivor Pulsford James, or 'Jip', as he was known to all, was a tough character who had an adventurous war in Yugoslavia, gained a reputation as a severely critical taskmaster at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and took on, as a Sassenach, the Edinburgh establishment as Professor of Orthop

Oliver Mansfield was a consultant plastic surgeon to the West Midlands area. He was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, in 1912, the son of Percival Aubertine Mansfield, a general practitioner and Kathleen, a matron of a private nursing home. There was a strong medical tradition in the family - two of his cous