After passing the MB in 1934 John Russell Barbour was house surgeon to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1935 and to the Adelaide Children's Hospital in 1936. In 1939 he became house surgeon to the Southend General Hospital and passed his FRCS. He was surgical registrar to the London Hospital and su

Anthony Partridge was born on 8 February 1920, in London, the son of Walter Partridge, a dental surgeon, and Evelyn Edgar. After education at Framlingham College, Suffolk, he entered Charing Cross Hospital where he qualified and held appointments as house surgeon in general surgery, and as house sur

Mahapitiyage Peiris was born in Panadura, Ceylon, on 28 July 1898, the son of M A Peiris, a merchant, and was educated at St John's School, Panadura, and St Joseph's College, Colombo, before entering Ceylon Medical College qualifying in 1926.After graduation and junior hospital posts he was appointe

Lindsay Black was superintendent of the Westland Hospital, New Zealand, and orthopaedic surgeon to all the west coast hospitals on the South Island. He was born in Auckland on 20 November 1914, the third child of Wilfred Alick Black, a solicitor, and Linda née Culpan. He was educated at King's Colle

Son of a pastoralist, Donald Wallace Fleming ("Don" or sometimes "Walt" to his friends) was born in Carnarvon 2 January 1917. He attended the local primary School in Carnarvon then Guildford Grammar School in Perth, completing his schooling in 1934. In those days, to do medicine it was necessary

Anders Langenskiöld was a distinguished orthopaedic surgeon in Helsinki, Finland. He was born in Helsinki in 1916. He wrote a doctoral thesis on electrophysiology under the Nobel laureate Ragnar Granit and worked in field hospitals during the war with the Soviet Union, before graduating in medicine

George Patrikios was chief of surgery at Sebokeng Hospital, Gauteng, South Africa. He was born on 13 February 1937 in Salisbury, Rhodesia, the third child and second son of Greek parents – Nestor Theodore Patrikios, a tobacco grader, and Eudokia Patrikios née Tselentis. He was educated at the David

Raymond Alexander King was born on 5 January 1918 and his early education was in China where his father and grandfather were medical missionaries. He entered the London Hospital Medical College for clinical studies and qualified in 1939. Within a few months he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and

Jack Mitchell Hay was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 22 October 1920, the youngest child of Mr Justice Hay. His early education was at Hutt Valley Boys' High School and Victoria University College where he initially studied law for a year before proceeding to Otago University to study medicine,

Robert Bewick was born in Glasgow on 19 July 1907, the second son of James Dicker Bewick, a business executive and Elizabeth Jane Sloan, daughter of an Exciseman. He was educated at Alexandra Parade School 1912-18, Whitehall Secondary School 1918-24 and Glasgow University Medical School where he won

Drogo Austin was born in Colombo, Ceylon on 17 October 1910, the son of Lester Austin, a banker in the National Bank of India who claimed descent from the Commissar General of the British Army which had captured Ceylon from the Dutch. His mother was Ethel Elfreda, née Nicolle. He was educated at Roy

Jack Stevens was born in Ingleton in Yorkshire and was proud of his West Riding roots. He won a scholarship from his school to Christ College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in the rowing club, as well as academically. He graduated MA, MB ChB in 1949, and spent two years as a National Ser