John Brian Anchen was born on 4 January 1929 in Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia, the third child of John Oscar Anchen, a school inspector, and Eileen Anchen née Croagh. He was educated at St Kevin's College, Toorak, Melbourne, and then went on to study medicine at Melbourne University. He qualified

David Stuart Gibson was a cardiothoracic surgeon in Hobart, Tasmania. Born in Hobart on 23 May 1925, he was the second child and only son of Stuart Galloway Gibson, a medical practitioner, and his wife, Leonora née Whitham who was a pianist and music teacher. His paternal grandfather, George Harry G