Brian McNeill Truscott was born in Hampstead on 29 February 1912, the son of Samuel John Truscott, Professor of Mining Engineering at the Royal School of Mines and Mary Truscott (née Vaughan). He was educated at Oundle School and the Middlesex Hospital where he held resident appointments after quali

Stanley Aylett was a distinguished bowel surgeon. He was born in Islington, north London, on 8 July 1911, the youngest son of Arthur John Aylett, a building contractor of the firm John Aylett and son, founded by Stanley's grandfather in the 1850s. His mother was Hannah Josephine née Henman. He was e