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

Born at Adelaide, Australia on 13 February 1910, son of John Corbin, surgeon, and Margaret Ogilvie, he was educated at Queen's School, Adelaide and Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, after which he attended St Mark's College, University of Adelaide and graduated in medicine in 1933. While an undergra

Kennedy Burnside was born in Melbourne on 9 December 1913. He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School before going to the University of Melbourne to read medicine. He graduated in 1937 and was successively resident and registrar at the Alfred Hospital in 1938 and 1939. During t

Born on 5 July 1905 in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, George Young Feggetter was the sixth son and the ninth child of William Feggetter, a shipbroker and coal exporter, and Amelia née Young, the daughter of a tobacconist. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and studied m

Irvine Smith was a consultant surgeon to Burton-on-Trent General Hospital. He was born in Ilkley on 5 December 1919. His father, Fredric Battinson Smith, was a forensic pathologist who had won the Military Cross in the first world war and later advised the Ministry of Health on setting up a national

Michael Du Preez (he did not use ‘Hercules’) was born in Cape Town on 19 November 1935, the son of Hercules James Du Preez, a company director, and his wife Josephine Florence née Koll. Educated at Rondebosch Boy’s School from 1944 to 1952, he proceeded to study medicine at the University of Cape To

Alexander McCalister (known as 'Alex') was a consultant general surgeon at the Ulster Hospital. He was born in Belfast on 6 June 1925 and grew up in rural Northern Ireland in relatively poor circumstances: his mother cooked on an open peat fire and they had no piped water in the home. His family sug

John Holmes Tasker was born in London on 20 January 1917, the son of Dr Ludwig Tasker, a general practitioner, and May, née Gadsden, a registered nurse. He was educated at Epsom College before entering Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1935 with the Haviland exhibition. After completing pre-clin

Bernard Price was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 27 January 1913, and studied medicine at Cambridge University and King's College Hospital, where he qualified in 1938. During the second world war he served in the RAMC and was awarded the MBE. On demobilisation he resumed his surgical training at the

Denis George Calvert was a consultant surgeon at Gloucester Royal Infirmary. He was born in Belfast on 23 April 1928, where his father Thomas George Calvert was an insurance manager. His mother, Isobel née Stafford, was the daughter of the fire chief of Belfast. He was educated at Epsom and the Midd

Sudhanshu Sekhar Gayen was a surgeon at Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford, Kent, and then a general practitioner. He was born on 1 August 1930 in the Midnapore district of West Bengal, India, the son of Jogendra Nath Gayen, a schoolteacher, and Bimala Bala Betz Gayen, a housewife. His family were lando

Born 20 July 1876 at Gosberton, Lincs, the second son of Richard Jocelyn Swan (1849-1925), MRCS 1870 (see *Lancet*, 1925, 2, 1257), and his wife Ana Elizabeth, elder daughter of Robert Russell Harper, MRCS 1875, of Holbeach, Lincs. R J Swan was the second son of John W Swan, MRCS 1835, of Ballyragge