Victor Stanley Brookes was an eminent Birmingham surgeon. His main surgical work was carried out at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was a consultant for 25 years up until his retirement. He was a generalist in the traditional fashion with special interests in gastroenterology and colo-rectal

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

John Felix Bolton Carter was born in Leicester and spent his definitive surgical career in the city. His father had also been a consultant surgeon to the Leicester Royal Infirmary. He went to Rugby School before his pre-clinical training at Cambridge, proceeding to University College Hospital, and q

Jeffrey Woodrow Betts was a consultant at Lincoln County Hospital. He was born in Elstree, Hertfordshire, on 20 March 1913, to John Betts, a newspaper proprietor and editor, and Hannah Woodrow, daughter of a farmer and mill-owner. He was educated at St Alban's School and King's College, London. He t

Richard William Tudor, the son of William Victor Tudor, a civil servant, and of Daisy Alice (née Baker) a teacher, was born in Birmingham on 19 July 1920. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, after winning a County Scholarship, and at Birmingham University where he won the Queen's Sc

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