Alec Badenoch was born in Banff on 23 June 1903, the son of John Alexander Badenoch, a chartered accountant, and Georgina Dingwall Joiner, daughter of a master mariner. He was educated at Banff Academy and went on the Marischal College, Aberdeen, to read English Literature, but later changed to medi

Francis John Milward was a consultant surgeon in Chesterfield. He was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, on 5 April 1903, the son of Henry Tomson Milward, managing director of a needle-making firm, and Elsie Townsend née Newton, the daughter of an Anglican canon. An uncle, Frederick Milward FRCS, was