Eric Harris was born on 18 October 1904 in Harbledown, Canterbury, the son of a pharmacist. He was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and the Middlesex Hospital. He qualified MRCS, LRCP in 1927 and MB, BS in 1929, and he became FRCS in 1941. During the war, he held temporary appointments as

Ivor Hughes was born at Tredegar on 23 December 1901, to Morgan Howell Hughes, a provision merchant and Harriet Hughes (née Reynolds). He attended Llandovery College and qualified from Bristol in 1927 with the Conjoint Diploma. After a resident appointment at Bristol he came to London and was RMO at