Augustus Appadorai Asirvatham, the eighth of eleven children and third son of Abraham Tahsildar Asirvatham, a revenue officer and of Rachel Ponnammal, was born in Madurai, India, on 29 September 1917. After education at preparatory school and the Church Missionary Society High School at Srivilliputh

Jim Jardine was a gifted general surgeon, a kind and compassionate doctor who practised in Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand. He loved the people and had an extraordinary gift for remembering patients' names. Moreover, he had a special rapport with his Maori patients and their families. One of his

Tahrir El-Galiani was professor of surgery at Baghdad University. He was born in Hit, Iraq in 1926. His mother's name was Hidna Turky and his father, Ismail Ahmed El-Galiani was a land owner on the Euphratus. He was their seventh child and the fourth of their sons. After primary school in Hit, he at

George Hargreaves ‘Steve’ Dunstone was a consultant general surgeon at Dryburn Hospital. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring, county Durham, on 23 October 1925, the son of William Anthony Hargreaves, a jeweller and watchmaker, and Elsie Bailey, the daughter of a schoolmaster. He was educated at the pr

John Gowan Gray, known as ‘Ian’, was a consultant surgeon at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, Stoke-on-Trent, and the Leek Memorial Hospital. He was born in Dalkeith, Midlothian, and qualified at Edinburgh, where he completed junior house posts. During the Korean War he served his National S

George Birbara was a general surgeon in Leeton, New South Wales. He was born in Sydney on 16 August 1928. His parents, Anis, a tailor, and Amanda (née Diab) had emigrated from Lebanon. George went to Sydney Boys’ High School and Sydney University. After house appointments, he went to England in 19

Alastair Cassie was a consultant surgeon to the Burnley Health District. Earlier posts had been as senior registrar in surgery to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and surgical tutor at Manchester University. In 1956 he passed the fellowship of the Edinburgh college and the FRCS two years later. He con

Eric Hardy was a hardworking general surgeon who spent his consultant career in Chester and was awarded emeritus status when he retired in 1982. He was born on 21 July 1918 in Royton, Lancashire. His father was Frank Stanley Hardy, a typewriter mechanic, and his mother Jean née Leslie. Eric was the

Ivan Johnston was professor of surgery at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and made major contributions to endocrine surgery. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 4 October 1929, the son of David Johnston, a company secretary, and Mary née Clarke, and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institut

George Emile Rousseaux was a consultant surgeon at Warrnambool Hospital, Victoria, Australia. He was born on 26 August 1926. He graduated in medicine from Oxford University in 1950 and passed his FRCS in 1958. During his time at Oxford he was resident medical officer at the Radcliffe Infirmary from

Feroz Shah was a consultant general surgeon in Pakistan. He was born in Peshawar in 1927 and studied medicine at King Edward’s Medical College, Lahore. He went to England to specialise in surgery, working as a house surgeon in Croydon and a registrar at the Lambeth Hospital while he studied for the

Brian Maurice was a consultant general surgeon at Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells. He was born on 28 July 1927 in Sutton, Macclesfield, Cheshire, the elder son of Norman B Maurice, a chemist who carried out pioneering research into synthetic nylon, and his wife Dorothy (née Armstead), wh