James Rudd Ratcliffe was born on 5 October 1899 in the Cape Province, South Africa, the son of a stock farmer who was killed in the Boer war within a few months of his birth. His mother was distinguished for her bravery in nursing the wounded during the siege of Ladysmith. He went to school in South

Frederick Herman Aitken Walker, the only child of Frederick, a cotton manufacturer, and of Edith Walker, was born on 1 July 1900 at Clayton Le Moors, Lancashire. He was educated at Calday Grange School, West Kirby, Cheshire, and, after one year as a medical student at Liverpool University he moved t