Michael Devas, a former consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Hastings, invented what he called 'geriatric orthopaedics'. He was born in Holcombe, Somerset, the son of G E Devas. He was educated at Downside and Cambridge, before going to the London Hospital in September 1940 during the Blitz, at a time

William Derek Wylie was one of the leading anaesthetists of his generation. Born in Huddersfield in 1918, he was educated at Uppingham, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and St Thomas's Hospital, where he qualified in 1943. Initially he intended to become a physician and held junior appointment

John Potter was a consultant neurosurgeon and director of postgraduate education at Oxford. He was born in London on 28 February 1920. His father, Alistair Richardson Potter, was a brewer. His mother was Mairi Chalmers née Dick, a housewife whose father had edited the songs of Robert Burns. He was e