Gunewardene was born and educated in Ceylon. He did postgraduate studies in England during the 1930s, taking the Fellowship in 1939. He practised in Ceylon for about thirty years, and died there in his fifties.

Daniel Anthony Andersen was born in India in 1906 and educated in England. He qualified with the Conjoint Diploma from University College Hospital in 1933, taking the MB BS later that year. In 1939 he took the FRCS and was appointed by the Salvation Army as chief medical officer to the Evangeline Bo

Brian McNeill Truscott was born in Hampstead on 29 February 1912, the son of Samuel John Truscott, Professor of Mining Engineering at the Royal School of Mines and Mary Truscott (née Vaughan). He was educated at Oundle School and the Middlesex Hospital where he held resident appointments after quali

Lord Smith was one of our great presidents. Successive holders of that office have faced many and various challenges, but by any measure the confrontation between the Labour government and the BMA from 1974 to 1975 was a major crisis that threatened the future of consultant practice. Rodney Smith, a

Denis Astley Sanford was a senior general surgeon in Sunderland. He qualified MB BS in 1936 and, after a house physician post at University College Hospital, London, became a resident surgical officer at the Royal Infirmary, Sunderland. He served as a wing commander in the RAF and then, after the S

Arnold Gourevitch was a consultant surgeon in Birmingham. He was born in Paris on 24 February 1914, the son of Russian Jewish émigrés. At the outbreak of the first world war his parents fled to England, eventually settling in Birmingham. His father, Mendel, later qualified as a doctor and became a g

Patrick Sames was a general surgeon in Bath with an interest in coloproctology. He was born on 17 January 1912 in Enfield, Middlesex, the only son of Christopher, a railway clerk, and Caroline née Radmore. He was a late entrant to medicine, leaving Harrow County School to become an apprentice in the

Paul Winchester Houghton was a general surgeon in Worcester, and served with distinction in the Second World War. He was born in west London into a naval family on 30 September 1911 and was educated at Whitgift School. Until his last days he could remember the hunger caused by rationing during the F

Mohamed Fatin was born on 3 September 1906. He gained his FRCS in 1939. His last known address was in Cairo, Egypt.

Raeburn Rodd Talbot was a senior visiting surgeon at Greenlane Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. He gained his FRCS in 1939.

Robert Laird was surgeon-in-chief and professor of surgery at Toronto Western Hospital, Canada. He was born in Brockville, Ontario, on 5 October 1902, the second child and only son of Robert Laird, a clergyman, and Henrietta Laird née Odell. He was educated at North Toronto High School and Queen's U

Brian Wilberforce Smith was born on 5 September 1910, went to Mill Hill School and then to Guy's Hospital where he qualified in 1933, proceeding to MB BS in 1935 and FRCS in 1939. His house appointments were at the Cancer Hospital in London and the Royal Infirmary Sheffield. Soon after the outbreak