John Spencer-Bernard was born on 26 May 1907 in Ootacamund, India, the elder son of Sir Charles and Lady Edith Spencer. His father was ICS Puisne Judge of High Court of Judicature, Madras, while his uncle A J Spencer was editor of the standard textbook *Landlord and tenant*. It was in 1955 in relati

Harold Daintree Johnson was born in London on 26 May 1910, the second son of Sir Stanley Johnson, a solicitor and one-time Conservative MP for Walthamstow. His mother, Edith Heather, was the daughter of a professor of mathematics. After education at Westminster School he entered University College L

Ian Jackson was a leading London obstetrician and gynaecologist. He was born on 11 November 1914 in Shanghai, where his father was a doctor. He was sent to England at a young age to commence his education. In due course he moved on to Marlborough, from which he won a scholarship to Trinity Hall, Cam

Percival Ross Wheatley was born in Westbury, Wiltshire on 4 May 1909, the son of Reverend Percival Wheatley, a Congregational minister and Margaret, née Wallis, the daughter of a dental surgeon. He won a scholarship to St Dunstan's College, Catford, for his early education and later gained an open s

Edith Whetnall was born at Hull in 1910, and trained at King's College Hospital where she graduated in 1938, taking the Conjoint Diploma in 1939, the Fellowship in 1940, and the London MS degree in 1944. She became interested in ear surgery while working at the branches of King's College Hospital at

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

Selwyn Francis Taylor, an internationally known surgeon and postgraduate teacher, was born in Sale, Cheshire, on 6 September 1913. His mother, Emily Edwards, was a teacher and his father, Alfred Petre Taylor, a headmaster. He was educated at Peter Symond's School, Winchester, before proceeding to Ke