‘Bill’ Richardson, who ultimately became one of only two consultant general surgeons at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, had an interesting and varied career before studying medicine. Although he was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1915, his early childhood was spent in Fiji, where his father, Pud, gre

Norman Addison was a consultant surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary. He was born in Leeds on 26 April 1925, the son of Herbert Victor Addison and Alice née Chappell. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, where he won an exhibition and sixth form prizes in biology and chemistry. He went on to stud

Kevin Cronin was born on 24 July 1925, the son of M J Cronin, a general practitioner. He was educated at the Beaumont School, Berkshire, and entered the London Hospital Medical College in 1942. After qualifying, he completed house jobs in neurosurgery under Douglas Northfield, chest medicine under L

John Fletcher McNeill, always known as ‘Ian’, was a surgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. He was born on 15 March 1926 in Yoker, near Glasgow, the youngest of the five children of John Henry Fletcher McNeill, a teacher, and Annie McLachlan, a housewife. The family moved from Glasgow to

Tony Gabriel was formerly the senior surgeon at the Cancer Hospital, Maharagama, Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was born in London on 10 January 1925 and died in Colombo on 21 December 2007 after a short illness, a few days before his 83rd birthday. He was described by one writer ‘as a person who loved the

As a consultant surgeon working in rural Australia, Harvey Chesterfield-Evans was a founder member and past president of the Provincial Surgeons Association. He was born in North Korea on 19 January 1922, the son of an Australian who worked for an American mining company and a New Zealander. He was

Francis Wilkinson was a consultant general surgeon with an interest in urology to the Macclesfield and District Group of Hospitals. He was born in Southampton on 29 November 1924, the son of the Reverend Charles Wilkinson, a Church of England priest, and Jane née Penny. He spent most of his early ye

Tom Williams was chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Alberta, Canada. He was born in Rhewl, Wales, on 17 April 1925, and spent his childhood and youth in north Wales. He studied medicine in Liverpool, where he completed junior surgical posts, before going to Edmonton, Alberta,

Guy Debenham was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, on 27 January 1923, the second son of Leonard Snowden Debenham, a surgeon, and Anna Archer-Shee, a nurse and the daughter of a banker. He was educated at Stonyhurst and Edinburgh University. He did junior posts at Leith Infirmary, Worcester, Wolverham

Keith Paterson Abel, son of the distinguished surgeon Lawrence Abel FRCS and Margaret Russell Paterson MD MRCP was born on 31 July 1926. He was educated at Rugby and Upper Canada College, Toronto, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. After the Natural Science Tripos he went to St Mary's Hospital

Frank Couper Walker was born on 21 May 1925. He qualified at Glasgow Medical School with honours in 1952. His undergraduate career was marked by numerous prizes and certificates of merit awarded in every subject from anatomy to otorhinolaryngology. His father was John Walker, a doctor in the Colonia

Gerard Shawe, always known as 'David', was a consultant surgeon in Redhill. He was born in London on 6 February 1921, the son of Gertrude (née Morgan) and Reginald Shawe. He was educated at the local school in Mill Hill, North London, leaving at 14. Determined to study medicine, he worked for matric