Carl Georgeff was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 14 December 1913. His father, Michael, was a farmer, and his mother's name was Anna Kamburova. He attended Perth Boy's School, Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia, before studying medicine at the University of Melbourne a

Robert William Higgins studied medicine at the National University of Ireland and qualified in 1921. He became house surgeon to the County Hospital in Lincoln and resident medical officer to the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth and the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers in London. He served i