Hugh Fraser Anderson was born in Manchester on 19 April 1910, the son of William Thomson Anderson, a mining electrical engineer, and his wife, Madeleine, née Grubb. He was educated at King William's College in the Isle of Man. In 1929 he gained an entrance exhibition to Caius College, Cambridge, and

Joseph Mason qualified from St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1935 and received his training in surgery at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Hull Royal Infirmary. He had a special interest in urology and was resident medical officer at St Paul's Hospital. He was consultant surgeon to Hull and East Riding H