Harold Jackson Burrows was born at Harrow, Middlesex, on 9 May 1902. His father was Harold Burrows FRCS and his grandfather was a graduate of St Bartholomew's Hospital, who became a Surgeon-Major in the Bombay Army. He was educated at Edinburgh House, Lee-on-Solent and Cheltenham College, where he w

Laurie was born in Hans Harbour, Newfoundland, on 17 November 1908 and trained at the University of Toronto School. His mother was Ethel, née Burns, a nurse, and his father was a GP and surgeon, a founder-member of the Toronto East General Hospital. His eldest son followed him as surgeon in charge.

'Mac' Crooks was born on 21 January 1909, the son of David Mackenzie Crooks. He was educated at Epworth College and studied medicine at Liverpool University, where he qualified in 1931. He held junior posts at the Northern Hospital, Liverpool, and at the Shropshire Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. He