David Le Vay was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Woolwich Brook General Hospital, London, for more than 30 years. During this time, he spent a year at the World Health Organization in Geneva and was later a visiting professor of surgery at the Shiraz Medical School, Iran. After his retirement fr

Robert Brain studied medicine at Birmingham University and trained at the Middlesex and St Bartholomew's Hospitals. He became a Fellow of the College in 1940. He had early house appointments at the General and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals in Birmingham. During the second world war he served as a surgic

Dennis Van Meurs graduated from St Thomas's Hospital in 1937 and at first intended becoming an ophthalmic surgeon. However, he developed an interest in thyroid operations and decided on a career in general surgery. He was appointed to Kent County Council in 1940 and in 1948 became a consultant su

John Dunlop was born on 29 June 1915 in India, where his father, John Dunlop, was a doctor. He was educated, with an entrance scholarship, at Epsom College, and in 1932 gained a scholarship to St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, and qualified in 1937. After holding a number of resident posts at St

Born in Bristol on 20 June 1912, 'Bill' Waterfall's father was Robinson Waterfall, a chemical manufacturer of fertilisers. His mother was Mary Louisa Radley, the daughter of a schoolmaster. He was educated at Bootham School, York, where he won an entrance scholarship, but was taken ill, and passed t

Herbert Spencer was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, on 8 February 1915, the son of Hubert John Spencer, a coat manufacturer, and his wife Edith Maude, née Lodge. His early education was at Highgate Junior and Senior Schools, and he entered St Mary's Hospital Medical School for his medical studies, wh

Patrick Michael Kelly was born in Dublin on 23 July 1912, the son of Sir Patrick Kelly, CIE, Commissioner of Police in Bombay. He was sent home with his mother who was expected to die of diabetes but she became one of the first recipients of insulin and lived on into her 80's still taking insulin! H

Arnold Aldis was a consultant surgeon and former postgraduate dean at Cardiff. He was born on 30 September 1910, in Paoning, Szechuan, China, the son of missionary parents. He qualified in medicine (with honours) from University College, London, in 1937. His ambition to return to China was thwarted

Alan Birt was born on 24 June 1915, the son of the Surgeon Dentist to King George V and Queen Mary. Like his father, he was educated at Wellington College and St Thomas's Hospital, where he qualified with honours in 1937. He held a number of junior appointments there and was later appointed senior r

Geoffrey Flavell was born on 23 February 1913 in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Alfred William Flavell, an industrialist, and Elizabeth, née Spry-Harris, the daughter of a gold prospector. He was educated at Waitaki Boys' High School, Otago Boys' High School and Otago University, where he read

Richard Johnson was born on 30 June 1912 in Manchester, the son of Herbert Johnson, a company secretary, and Grace, née Rose. He was educated at King's School, Macclesfield and in 1932 was awarded an Exhibition to Downing College, Cambridge, where he obtained first class honours in the natural scien

Harold Fuller was a GP based in Eastleigh. He was born in Norwood, south London, in 1914. He was educated at Battersea Grammar School and awarded a Warneford scholarship to King's College Hospital, where he qualified in 1937, with honours in medicine, surgery and pathology, a unique triple for which