Charles John Gordon was born on 24 June 1910, in Angmering, Sussex. He came of a long line of clerical forbears, several of whom were bishops in Lincoln. His father was the Reverend George Gordon, who was Vicar of Angmering. His mother, Eileen Hutton, came of an army family. He was the only son and

Murphy was educated at University College London, graduating in science and proceeding to the Master of Science degree in 1934, before qualifying with the Conjoint Diploma in 1935 and taking the London medical and surgical degrees in 1936. During the second world war he served as medical officer in

Katharine Branson was a consultant surgeon at the Bruntsfield and Longmore Hospitals, Edinburgh. She was born in London on 5 August 1912. Her father, Frederick Henry Ewart Branson, was a solicitor. Her mother was Helen Mary, née Brown, the daughter of a solicitor. Katharine was educated at Hall S

Denis Ebrill was born in Limerick, Ireland, on 7 March 1916. His father, Charles, was an attorney. His mother was Margaret née Foley. He was educated at St George's College, Weybridge, King's College, London, and St George's Hospital, where he held junior posts and was resident assistant surgeon. He

George Fairlie-Clarke qualified from St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1938 and after a house surgeon post at Bart's he was resident surgical officer at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells. He retired to Dartmouth where he died on 9 September 2002, aged 89 years.

Edward Ernest Thurlow Taylor was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 3 February, 1910. He was the younger son of Herbert Taylor, a cotton manufacturer, and of Edith Taylor (née Thurlow). His early life was varied and interesting. He was educated at Cheltenham College, and went from there to Balliol Colleg

Bernard George Albert Lilwall was born at Ramsgate on 21 November 1914, the eldest son of John Edward Lilwall, a company director and Georgina, née Bomford. He was educated at Chatham Grammar School, Ramsgate, Belmont Preparatory School, Mill Hill, and Mill Hill School before studying at Guy's Hospi

Alfred John Drew, known as ‘Jack’, was a former consultant general surgeon in Walsall. He was born in Ceylon on 17 February 1916, the son of the chief pilot for the harbour at Colombo. He was educated at Nuwara Eliya, and was then sent to Ipswich School at the age of 11. He became head boy and rugby

Kenneth Edgar Bond spent much of his career as a surgeon working in India. The son of Edward Vines Bond, the rector of Beddington, and Rose Edith née Bridges, the daughter of a landowner, he was born on 24 October 1908 and was educated at Mowden School, Brighton, and Haileybury College, before going

Eric Travers was a consultant surgeon to Sedgefield and Stockton and Thornaby hospitals. He was born on 7 June 1910 in Brantingham, Yorkshire, where his father John (‘Jack’) Francis Travers was a solicitor. His mother was Beatrice Mary Horsley. The eldest of three, he and his two younger sisters (Ma

Louis Arnold Ives was a consultant general surgeon at St Charles Hospital, London. He trained at London University and St Bartholomew's Hospital graduating MB, BS in 1938. At the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London he became honorary lecturer in surgery. While working in London he lived in H

John Swift Joly was a consultant surgeon at Goondiwindi Hospital, Queensland, Australia. He was born in London on 21 March 1912, the only child of John Swift Joly, an eminent urologist and a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Mary Tottenham Fitzpatrick, the daughter of a Dublin bank manage