James Paterson Ross, the eldest of four sons of James Ross, an official in the Bank of England, and of May (née Paterson), was born in London on 26 May 1895. After early education at Christ's College, Finchley, he entered St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School in 1912, with an entrance scholarship

Rupert Corbett was born on 11 February 1893 in Rondebosch, South Africa, and he received his early education at the Diocesan College in Cape Town before entering Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge. He completed his medical training at St Bartholomew's Hospital and qualified with the Conjoint

Jose Victory lived and worked in Costa Rica. His grand-daughter reported that he had died before she was born in 1960 but knew no details of his career.