James Hadfield was a consultant general surgeon with a urological interest at Bedford Hospital. He came from a distinguished medical family: his father, Geoffrey Hadfield, was professor of pathology at the London School of Medicine for Women at the Royal Free Hospital. His mother was Sarah Victoria

George Decker was chief of surgery at J G Strijdom Hospital, Johannesburg, one of the five main provincial teaching hospitals of the University of the Witwatersrand. He was born in Mossel Bay, a coastal town in the Cape Province of South Africa. His parents were of Dutch and German decent; his only

William Michael Mee was a consultant surgeon at Luton and Dunstable Hospital. He was born on 27 February 1928 and studied medicine at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1954. He gained his FRCS in 1960. Prior to his appointment at Luton and Dunstable Hospital he was a senior surgica

James Somervell continued his family’s tradition of missionary work in India. He was born on 23 April 1927 in Kodaikanal, southern India. His father, Theodore Howard Somervell, was a surgeon and mountaineer, who took part in the ill-fated 1922 and 1924 Mallory expeditions to conquer Everest. He beca

Eric Philip Simkin was a consultant surgeon at Royal Liverpool University Hospital. He attended Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied medicine, qualifying in 1952. He was an accident officer at Middlesex Hospital, London, and then a surgical registrar at Liverpool Royal Infirmary. Prior to his

Roger James was a general surgeon who lived and worked in Canada. He qualified from the University of Sheffield in 1953 and passed the fellowship in 1960. He moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba where he was on the staff of the Misericordia General and Victoria General Hospitals. He died on 18 January 2007.

Air Vice Marshal Rhys Tudor Brackley Jones was born on 16 November 1925 in Middlesex, the son of the late Sir Edgar and Lady Jones. He studied medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, where he qualified MRCS LRCP in April 1950 and became a house surgeon there. His surgical training rotation continued at Haro

John Herbert Harker Webster was a consultant surgeon in Southampton. He was born in Heswall, Cheshire, on 2 October 1929, the son of Herbert Webster, a biscuit manufacturer, and Doris Louise née Harker, the daughter of a chandler. In 1935 the family moved to Prenton in order to be near to Birkenhead

Gwyn Roberts was a consultant general surgeon at the Hastings group of hospitals. He was born in Kampala, Uganda, on 26 April 1929, where his father, Clifford Ellis, was a surgeon and his mother, Lydia Flay, a nurse. He was educated at the Prince of Wales School, Nairobi, and Millfield, in Somerset,

Bhanu Ratilal Shah was a surgeon who practised in Mumbai, India. He gained his FRCS in 1960.

Pradip Majumdar gained his FRCS in 1960. He lived in Calcutta, India. His death was notified to the Royal College of Surgeons in October 2006.

Sir Andrew Watt Kay was regius professor of surgery at Glasgow and an archetypal Scottish academic surgeon. Known by surgical trainees worldwide through his book *A textbook of surgical physiology* (Edinburgh/London, E & S Livingstone, 1959), written with R Ainslie Jamieson, Kay stood alongside many