Richard Chignell came from a medical family and he was born on 25 April 1911 in Wing, Buckinghamshire, where his father was in general practice. He was at school at Bedford and received his medical training at the London Hospital where he qualified in 1936. Later he embarked on his career in otorhin

Kenneth Gerald Rotter was born in Bexley, Kent, on 8 April 1912, the son of Dr Godfrey Rotter CB, CBE, GM, a research chemist and the Head of Woolwich Arsenal, and Gertrude, née Plank. He was educated at the City of London School and St Bartholomew's Hospital where he qualified MRCS LRCP in 1936 and