Born 18 December 1894 at Witfoot, Middelburg, Transvaal, South Africa, the third of the three sons of Henry Laver, merchant of Middelburg, and his wife, nee Hardiman. Both parents came originally from Southampton. He was educated at Middelburg, at the Bedford Modern School in England, and at Guy's H

Born on 31 July 1896 son of Digby Chamberlain, he began his medical career at the University of Leeds in 1913. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he interrupted his medical studies to join the Royal Artillery in which he rose to the rank of Major, but in 1917 medical students serving as combatants were