Mike Butler helped establish and develop general surgical services in the Isle of Thanet, Margate and Ramsgate, Kent. He was born on 21 January 1924 in London, the third child and first son of Frank Butler and Ailsa Butler née Beckwith. His father served in the First World War and was a dentist, ori

Ron Grimley was born in Birmingham on 21 February 1946 and was educated at grammar school in Small Health and Birmingham University. After junior posts, mainly at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, he was a lecturer on the surgical unit under Sir Geoffrey Slaney. He was appointed vascular and general sur

Ron Todd was amongst only the second generation of surgeons appointed to the Wrexham hospitals. He was initially based at the War Memorial Hospital and also in the expanded Emergency Medical Services (EMS) hospital in the town, which was later further developed into the district general hospital for

Gavin Smillie (formerly Smellie) was a consultant general and vascular surgeon and honorary clinical lecturer at the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow. He was born in Glasgow in 1926, the son of William Smellie, a geologist, and Janet Smellie née Douglas, a school teacher. He spent his early years in Arge

Crawford Jamieson was one of the country's leading peripheral vascular surgeons. He made major academic contributions to the literature of that specialty and became president of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1995. The son of Crawford John Baird Jamieson, an industria

Edward John Williams was a consultant vascular and general surgeon at St Mary's Hospital, London, and Wexham Park Hospital, Slough. He was born in Towyn, a small village in Clwyd, north Wales, on 3 February 1928, the son of D C Williams. He was educated locally and did his undergraduate studies at t

Ian Massey was a consultant general and vascular surgeon at the Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Lincolnshire. Born in Birmingham on 31 May 1939, Ian was the son of Charles William Massey, a master baker and managing director of a large bakery in Lancashire, and Ellen née Astley. He had one brother, Alasta

John Chamberlain was a consultant in general and vascular surgery to the Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals for 26 years. He was born in Leicester on 27 January 1938 to Jack and May Chamberlain. He was an only child. As a young boy John was fascinated by steam engines and was very proud of his grandfathe

Charles Clyne was born in Huddersfield on 3 February 1946, the son of a Czechoslovakian immigrant who had come to Britain in 1939. His early education was at St Bee's School in Cumbria, just five miles from the nuclear processing plant at Sellafield. He trained at Liverpool University Medical School

Peter Henry Dickinson was a consultant surgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, an honorary consultant in vascular surgery for the Newcastle Regional Health Board and a lecturer in clinical surgery at the University of Newcastle. He was born on 17 June 1922 and studied medicine

Frank Cockett was internationally known for his ground-breaking advances in the understanding of varicose veins and venous ulcers. He identified a new condition called the 'ankle blow out syndrome' and described the operation needed to cure it, which became universally known as 'the Cockett operatio

John 'Jack' Bradley was a consultant surgeon at Hillingdon and Mount Vernon hospitals. He was born in Paulton, Somerset, on 20 October 1927, the second child and only son of William Henry Bradley, a medical officer and epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health, and Gladys Maud Bradley née Smith, the