Mark Coleman received his medical education at University College Hospital Medical School, passing the Conjoint Diploma in 1927 and graduated MB BS in 1928. He obtained the Fellowship in 1931 and in the same year gained the Mastership of Surgery, and was awarded the Bilton Pollard Fellowship in 1938

Robin Pilcher was born on 22 June 1902 in Northwood, Middlesex, into a family without medical connections, although his younger brother Michael was to follow him into surgery. His father was Thorold Sturtevant Pilcher and his mother Helena, née Neilson. He was a scholar at St Paul's School and a pri