Born on 27 December 1914, at Dunoon, Renfrewshire, the son of a Scottish minister, Hugh lived in Naples as a child and went to school in Switzerland. He qualified MRCS LRCP from Westminster Hospital Medical School in 1939 and MB BS (London) in 1940. During the war-time bombing of London he worked at

Reginald Seymour Lawrie, always known as 'Rex', was a consultant general surgeon to Guy's Hospital from 1948 until 1977. He did much pioneering work in paediatric surgery before it became recognised as a specialty. He also worked at the Evelina Hospital, holding appointments at Sydenham Children's,

Paul Hickinbotham was a consultant surgeon in Leicester. He was born in Birmingham on 21 March 1917, the second son of Frederick John Long Hickinbotham, an export merchant and JP, and Gertrude née Ball. He was educated at West House School, Birmingham, and Rugby, and went on to Birmingham to do his

Bryan Brooke pioneered the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease, especially that of ulcerative colitis. He was born on 21 February 1915 in Croydon, the son of a numismatist. Following initial schooling at Bradfield College he went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, for which he retai