Ross Bloom was born in Leeds on 2 January 1915; his father was a shopkeeper and his mother's maiden name was Fanny Castenberg. He was educated at Cardiff High School and graduated from the University of Wales in 1937, taking the London MB BS, the same year. He obtained the prize for the best first y

John Fairbank was born on 26 June 1912 in London, the only son of Sir Thomas Fairbank, the first orthopaedic surgeon to the Charing Cross Hospital, and Florence Kathleen née Ogilvie. He was educated at Wellesley House, Broadstairs, and then at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, as senior scholar,