George Arden was born in London in 1913, the last of the Ardens who claimed descent from before the Doomsday book. He qualified from University College Hospital where he did junior jobs and passed the FRCS. He then joined the RAFVR as a surgical specialist and was in charge of the surgical divisions

Born in Cardiff on 1 July 1912, Clive Howell Tanner was educated at Cardiff High School and the University of Wales, completing his undergraduate training at the London Hospital from which he graduated MB BS in June 1936. He was house physician and house surgeon at Cardiff Royal Infirmary and later