Charles Ian Murphie was born on 23 September 1911 in Birkenhead where his father was a partner in a family business. He was educated at Birkenhead School and Cheltenham College where he was a scholar. He then went to Wadham College, Oxford and came up to King's College Hospital for his clinical work

Douglas Burland Duffy was born on 13 September 1919. He was the son of Bessie Rose Grant and Leontine Joseph Duffy, a manager. He attended Geelong College and Ormond College of the University of Melbourne where he qualified MB BS in 1942 and MS in 1947. He won the exhibition and Beaney Prize in surg

James Gordon Gow was a consultant surgeon to Sefton General Hospital, specialising in urological surgery. Born on 1 January 1917 in Liverpool, Jim Gow's father, John, was a businessman, and his mother, Elizabeth McLellan née Roy, was the daughter of a minister of religion. He was educated at Liverpo