Victor Pearse was born on 12 November 1913, the son of Arthur Victor Pearse, of the New Zealand Government Service, and his wife Constance, née Clark. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School and Otago Medical School, graduating in 1941. After junior posts, he joined up. His first posting in 1942

Irene Irving was a senior lecturer in paediatric surgery at the University of Liverpool and a consultant paediatric surgeon at the Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital (Alder Hey) who managed to combine her career with bringing up three children on her own after the early death of her husband.

Samuel Joseph Cohen, known as 'Joe', was a paediatric surgeon in Manchester. He was born on 22 July 1923 in Germiston, a gold mining town near Johannesburg, South Africa. He was the youngest of three children of Berel Nathan Cohen and Feiga Cohen, a nurse, who emigrated to South Africa from Lithuani

Neville Connolly was a paediatric surgeon in Washington DC. His father, William Frederick Connolly, left Dublin at the age of 16 to make his way in London. He did two jobs to support himself while obtaining a law degree, then joined the Civil Service, working for the Inland Revenue. After the First

George Macnab was born in Edinburgh on 12 March 1904, and went to school at Edinburgh Academy. He then proceeded to his medical studies at Edinburgh Unviersity and graduated in 1926. After house appointments in West Hartlepool and at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, he came to London and worked at th

Eardley Lorimer Button was born in London on 9 March 1903 the son of Robert Lorimer, a merchant, and Lilian, née Naylor. He moved with the family to New Zealand at an early age, was educated at Wellington College and the Otago University Medical School qualifying MB ChB in 1925 having represented th

Born on 23 May 1905 in Bristol, Trevor Hellier Berrill was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Bristol University where he graduated MB, ChB in 1938, obtaining the Conjoint Diploma in the same year. He held resident appointments at Bristol Royal Infirmary and the Royal Northern Hospital and in 19

Gamini Wickramarachchi Karunaratne, or 'Gam' as he was always called, was a pioneer of paediatric surgery in Sri Lanka. He was born in Kamburugamuwa, southern Sri Lanka, on 19 April 1929. His father was Wilson Karunaratne and his mother was Tilaka. He had two brothers and five sisters. His early sch

Andrew Wilkinson was the first Professor of Paediatric Surgery in the UK and as such received honours in many countries. Although his father was of Scottish extraction he was born in Taunton, Somerset, on 19 April 1914. He was educated locally and then at Weymouth College before going up to Edinburg

John Francis Rogers Bentley was born in India on 5 March 1920. He entered Guy's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1942. After initial house appointments in the Emergency Medical Service at Guy's Hospital and the North Middlesex Hospital he joined the Indian Medical Service, rising to the rank o

Isabella Forshall was born and spent her childhood in affluent surroundings in Sussex. Details of her family are not recorded but she was educated privately at home where her mother, who read classics at Girton College, Cambridge in the 1890s, had a powerful influence, imbuing her with a keen apprec

Caroline Doig was a consultant paediatric surgeon in Manchester and the first woman elected to the council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. She was not easy to miss in a crowded room: firstly, she was tall, but more importantly she had a formidable but likeable presence and was always