John Walter Jackson was born on 14 November 1921 at Ballyconnell, County Cavan, Ireland, the son of Reverend John Herbert Jackson, BD, a Canon of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and Dora Grace (née Middleton). His early education was at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, before he entered Trinity Co

Thomas Lauder Carr was born in Aberdeen on 5 September 1918, the son of George Carr, a jeweller, and Agnes, née Lauder. His early education was at Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen before entering Aberdeen University for his medical studies. He qualified in 1942, and after appointments as house phys

Geoff Smiddy was a senior surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary and a prolific author. He was born in Kendal on 4 January 1922. His father was a hotelier and his mother looked after a haberdashery shop. His was not an easy childhood – his father left the family home shortly after he was born and his mo

Kenneth Wybar was a man whose extraordinary energy and tireless capacity for work (he was known as the 'Flying Scot'!) soon brought him to the forefront in ophthalmology, but was a little apt to put his colleagues to shame! He was born on 2 March 1921 in Glasgow, where his father was an actuary, and

John Cloke was born in Melbourne, Australia on 16 November 1919, the son of Percy Cloke MC, who had served in the Royal Artillery as a captain in the first world war, and Agnes, née Longden. His early life was spent in the country near Cosgrove in Victoria, where he attended primary school. In 19

John Hankinson, known as ‘Hank’, was a consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, and professor of neurosurgery at the University of Newcastle. He was born in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, on 10 March 1919, the son of Daniel Hankinson, a company director, and Anne née Ka

John Wedgwood Graham, the son of John Machefer Graham, a farmer and grazier, and of Ivy Maud (née Wedgwood), a descendant of Charles Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood, was born on 1 June 1921 at Narrabri, New South Wales. His grandfather, John Bass Graham, was a medical graduate from Dublin who practised i

Desmond Garvan Hurley was born in Nhill on 24 June 1921, the third of four sons of Dr John and Mrs Greta Garvan Hurley. As there was no other medical practitioner in the town at the time the occasion was unusual in that his father was, of necessity, accoucheur. Like his father and brothers, Desmo

Cuthbert Dukes, the son of a Congregational minister, was born on 24 July 1890 at Bridgwater, Somerset. He was educated at Caterham School and the University of Edinburgh and graduated in 1914. He served in the RAMC throughout the first world war attached to the Rifle Brigade, and was awarded the OB

Hugh Kinder was a consultant urologist at Guy's. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on 12 March 1922. His father, Geoffrey, was a civil engineer in charge of irrigation in the days of the British Mandate, where he was involved in increasing the height of the Aswan Dam. Returning to England, he was in

John ('Harry') Sharrard was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Sheffield. He was born in Lincoln on 8 November 1921, the only survivor of a pair of twins. His father William and mother Winifred (née Wells) were both medical practitioners. His mother had been a brilliant student, winning no fewer th

Herbert Johnston was a pioneer of paediatric urology, determined to make what had been a peripheral interest a specialty in its own right. Appointed first as a general surgeon to a leading children’s hospital, Alder Hey in Liverpool, he soon saw that the urogenital problems required a much closer at