Born at Christchurch, New Zealand on 20 February 1911, son of a sheep farmer and meat exporter, he was educated at Christ College, New Zealand and came to Edinburgh for his medical training, which was continued in London after he had won a scholarship to Guy's Hospital. He was a notable heavy-weight boxer, becoming inter-hospital champion in 1933, and also represented Guy's at squash rackets. He won the Treasurer's Gold Medal in both medicine and surgery and qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1935, taking the FRCS the following year and completing his MB, BS London in 1940. He held house appointments at Guy's in 1935 and 1936, and was surgical tutor from 1937 to 1939. He joined the RAMC in 1940 and in 1942 was attached to Rooksdown House, Basingstoke for training in plastic surgery under Sir Harold Gillies. As Officer Commanding of a maxillo-facial unit in North Africa and Italy from 1942 to 1945 he was able to make full use of his specialised training and gained considerable experience in the treatment of burns and facial injuries. In 1945 he was appointed to the British Army Staff, Washington for liaison with US Army and Navy Plastic Surgery Units, which extended his experience still further and established the close links with leading American plastic surgeons which continued throughout his life. He was awarded the MBE for his war service. After the war he was appointed to Guy's as surgeon in charge of accident services, and rejoined Gillies at Rooksdown House which was to become a regional plastic surgery centre in the National Health Service and eventually moved to Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton. He was also consultant plastic surgeon to St Charles's Hospital, the Royal Northern Hospital and St Mary Abbot's Hospital, and became honorary civilian consultant in plastic surgery to Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital, Millbank and the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot. In 1946 he was Hunterian Professor and Leverhulme Research Scholar at the Royal College of Surgeons and he later became Examiner in Medicine and Surgery for the FDS. His many contributions to journals and textbooks led to rapid recognition abroad and he was elected an Honorary Member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Honorary Associate Member of the Surgical Societies of Brussels, Madrid and Bordeaux, Associate Member of the French Society for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Corresponding Member of the American Society for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He became Visiting Professor of Plastic Surgery at the Presbyterian Hospital, New York in 1963 and at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore in 1964. His most notable contributions were probably in hand surgery and in the treatment of burns. He was a founder member of the Hand Club in 1952, and his book *The general and plastic surgery of the hand* written in 1962 with A D Pelly reflects his considerable experience and clear thinking on the subject. He established the Children's Burns Unit at Guy's in 1953, and his distress at the suffering of burned children led him to speak strongly on the need for prevention of these domestic accidents. His second Hunterian lecture in 1965 was on the subject of burns in children, and his Presidential Address in 1968 to the newly-formed Section of Plastic Surgery of the Royal Society of Medicine reviewed recent progress in the treatment of burns. Ill health led to his premature retirement from hospital work but he continued writing, lecturing, and travelling to international meetings. He died after a short illness at Guy's Hospital on 28 December 1969. At the memorial service at St Columba's Church, Pont Street on 30 January 1970 the address was given by Sir Hedley Atkins, KBE, PPRCS. Principal publications: Fifield's *Infections of the hand*. 2nd edition. London, 1939. Treatment of jaw and face casualties in the British Army. *Ann Surg* 1946, 123, 190-208. Management and surgical resurfacing of serious burns. (with R S Lawrie)* Brit J Surg*1946,33, 211-23. Facial injuries in road accidents.* Practitioner*, 1948,161, 396-405. Thumb reconstruction by transfer of big toe. (with R J Furlong) *Brit med J* 1949,2, 1334-4. Correction of deformities of the jaw. *Ann Roy Coll Surg Eng* 1951, 8, 23-52. Emergency surgery in the early treatment of burns and scalds. *Practitioner* 1952, 168, 400. The care of open injuries of the hand with special reference to the treatment of traumatic amputations.* J Bone Jt Surg*. 1955, 37A, 521. Mobilization of the medial palm in the treatment of distal hemi-amputation of the hand. *Plast reconstr Surg* 1961, 28, 56-66. The aetiology of Dupuytren's disease. *Guy's Hosp Rep* 1961,110, 52.