Fred Graves was a general surgeon in Staffordshire with an interest in urology. He was born in Hereford in 1919, later studied medicine at University College Hospital and specialised in surgery at King’s College Hospital. He was subsequently appointed consultant general surgeon at Staffordshire Gene

Gordon Stuart Ramsay was a consultant general surgeon at the Royal London Homeopathic, Metropolitan and Bromley hospitals, London. He was born on 11 December 1919 in Streatham, south London. He was educated at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, and then St Bartholomew's Medical School. During the

Bernard Hand was born on 21 November 1919. His father, Ernest Francis Hand, was an architect and his mother, Mary, née Searle, was the daughter of an engineer. He was descended from Sir William Hillary, founder of the lifeboat service; as a consequence he gave constant support to the RNLI throughout