Walter Gordon was a thoracic surgeon. He was born on 11 January 1916 in Modderfontein, South Africa, the third child and second son of Herman Gordon, a confectionery manufacturer and businessman, and Anna née Rabinowitz , a housewife. He was educated at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg, and then

Peter Lance Brunnen was a consultant thoracic surgeon to the North East Regional Hospital Board, Scotland. He was born in Rosyth, Scotland, on 19 July 1917. His father, John Ewart Brunnen, was an electrical engineer; his mother, Elsie Victoria Augusta Brunnen née Lance was the daughter of an inspect

Arthur Terence Sahanandan ('A T S') Paul was a pioneering cardiothoracic surgeon in Sri Lanka. He was born on 5 September 1915 in Colombo, in what was then Ceylon, into a distinguished Tamil family. His father, Samuel Chelliah Paul, was a senior surgeon at the General Hospital, Colombo, and the firs