Charles Henry de Boer was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Liverpool. He was born in Nairobi, Kenya, on 2 September 1921, where his father was chief colonial medical officer. He was sent to England for his schooling, and was cared for by his great aunt, Alice de Boer, a doctor. He g

Ian Donaldson was born on 20 January 1914, the son of David Donaldson, a marine engineer and Margaret Jane, née Smith. He was an exceptional student especially in the study of languages. Ian studied at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School where he obtained a number of prizes. House appointments at

John Tomkinson was born in Stafford on 8 December 1916, the son of Harry Stanley Tomkinson, a company director, and his wife Kate Mills, née Cliff. He was educated at Rydal School and the University of Birmingham, where he qualified in 1941 with medals in surgery and ophthalmology. He joined the nav

Roger de Vere was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Westminster Hospital, London. He was born on 23 May 1921 in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, the son of Gaston de Vere, an Oxford extramural studies tutor and translator of Vasari's *Lives* of Renaissance artists, and Margaretta Josephine née Ham