Wilfred Grundhill was born on 2 March 1920 in Brakpan, where he matriculated at the local high school in 1938. His father had emigrated from England and was employed in the gold mining industry; he developed a lung problem and his son's interest in thoracic surgery was nurtured by this misfortune. H

Geoffrey Wilson, the son of Norman Wilson, a manufacturing mild owner, and of Gertie Wilson (née Green), was born at Silsden, Yorkshire, on 13 February 1923. He was educated at Keighley Boys' Grammar School and Leeds University Medical School, graduating with honours in 1947. He then served as house

Benjamin Henry Dawson, after education at Middleton Grammar School, worked for a short time in industry while pursuing further education at Salford Technical College. After securing a scholarship to Manchester University Medical School, he duly graduated and became house surgeon to Sir Geoffrey Jeff

John Blair Logan Taylor was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, on 13 June 1923, the son of John Binnie Taylor, a GP, and his wife, Margaret Godfrey Logan. He received his early education first at the Glasgow Academy and later at Manchester Grammar School. He entered the Manchester University Medical S

Geoffrey Gurner Wyllie was born in Adelaide on 16 May 1923 the second son of Kenneth Robert Wyllie and Maude Hoban (née Gurner). He was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, before entering the medical faculty of the University of Adelaide and the Royal Adelaide Hospital, qualifying in 1946. His

John Wanless Dickson was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the Ispwich and East Suffolk Hospital. Born on 31 July 1920, in Westgate-on-Sea, he was the fourth generation of his family to enter medicine. His great-grandfather was John Wanless MD of Dundee and Montreal. His father, Ivan Wanless, was

Percy Helman was born on New Year's Day, 1924. He was educated at Laingsburg Junior and High School and at the University of Cape Town, where he graduated MB ChB in 1946. He served his internship in medicine and surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital and started his surgical training in Cape Town. He the

Reginald Hamilton Livingston was born on January 15 1923 at Lurgan, County Armagh, into a Quaker family and educated at Lurgan College and Queen's University, Belfast. After qualifying he took his FRCS and then spent a year at the Mayo Clinic before proceeding MD with high commendation. In 1956 he j

Daniel Gerard Lane was born on 29 April 1924, the son of Dr Morgan Lane of Brisbane, Queensland, who introduced him as a child to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital. He was educated at Nudgee College and entered the Medical School in Brisbane in 1942. He graduated with honours in 1947 and then did res

Brian McEvedy was a consultant in general surgery at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was born in Manchester on 13 December 1923, the second of three medical sons of Peter McEvedy of Ancoats Hospital, one of the great names in hernia surgery. His mother was Lilian Grace née Denn

Roger Parnis was born on 6 October 1923 in Sliema, Malta. His father, Eric, was a Judge, and his mother was Lucy, née Chapelle. His uncle, Henry Parnis, was a psychiatrist who spent some years working at Colney Hatch Mental Hospital in North London and another uncle, Edward Chapelle, spent most of h

Henry Milsom was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 30 September 1919. His father, Edwin Henry Britton Milsom, was also a surgeon who had trained at Guy's. Mary Lavinia, née Nelson, his mother, was the daughter of Charles Moseley Nelson, a Church of England canon and the granddaughter of James Coates