Fenton Braithwaite was born on July 28 1908, the third of four sons of Abraham Braithwaite, farmer, of Marton in the Fylde, Lancashire, and of his wife Ann. He attended Baines Grammar School before entering Manchester University to read for an honours degree in mathematics. He then proceeded to rese

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

Guy Blackburn was born on 20 November 1911 in Harrogate, the eldest son of Dr A E Blackburn, a general practitioner, who later moved to Beckenham, Kent. Guy was educated at Rugby (without great exposure to the game!), Clare College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Medical College. At Clare he took u

Jack Collis was a pioneering thoracic surgeon. He was born in Harborne, Birmingham, on 14 July 1911, the son of Walter Thomas Collis, an industrial chemist, and Dora Charton Reay. His choice of medicine was greatly influenced by his local GP and his two medical uncles, one of whom was a professor of

Joseph Schorstein qualified MD in Vienna in 1931. He then continued his studies at University College Hospital, London. He was chief assistant to the neurosurgical department of the Royal Infirmary, Manchester and then became consultant neurosurgeon to the West Scotland Neurosurgical Unit. When he r

Born at Christchurch, New Zealand on 20 February 1911, son of a sheep farmer and meat exporter, he was educated at Christ College, New Zealand and came to Edinburgh for his medical training, which was continued in London after he had won a scholarship to Guy's Hospital. He was a notable heavy-weight

Stanley Aylett was a distinguished bowel surgeon. He was born in Islington, north London, on 8 July 1911, the youngest son of Arthur John Aylett, a building contractor of the firm John Aylett and son, founded by Stanley's grandfather in the 1850s. His mother was Hannah Josephine née Henman. He was e

Born on 29 August 1911 in Bury, Lancashire, John Charnley was the son of Arthur Walker Charnley, pharmacist, and Lily, née Hodgson, a nurse, he was educated at Bury Grammar School and Manchester University. He was persuaded to read medicine rather than dentistry, his first choice, by L R Strangeways