Alec Antony Lees was born at Walsall in 1890, and qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1915. He had been studying at Cambridge and Birmingham, but interrupted the work for his degree to join the RAMC after holding a house appointment at the Birmingham General Hospital. He served with the 36th Gene

Born on 4 July 1890 at West Hartlepool, Durham, where his father Thomas George Ainsley (MRCS 1877, MD Durham) was in practice. His mother's maiden name was Hill. He was educated at Malvern College, at Caius College, Cambridge, where he took second-class honours in the Natural Sciences Tripos, part 1