Joe Magri was a consultant urologist at Oldchurch Hospital, Romford. He was born in Valletta, Malta, on 2 March 1926, the son of Francesca and Tancred Magri. He was educated at the Jesuit College and Malta University, where he qualified in 1949. He then moved to England to specialise in surgery.

Kenneth Perry was born in London on 25 August 1929. His father, John, was a chef and his mother, Cecilia Gertrude, née Berry, a nurse. From Surrey County School he went to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where he qualified MB BS, and afterwards held appointments at Princess Beatrice Hospital and the