Jan Milan Kodicek was born in Prague in 1924 but after the invasion of Czechoslovakia, while still a schoolboy, he was forced to leave his native land and seek refuge in Britain. He entered St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1945 and after house appointments in general surgery and EN

David Dawson was a consultant surgeon at Plymouth Hospital. He was born on 21 July 1921 in Pinner, Middlesex. His father was John Alexander Dawson CBE, a civil engineer. His mother, Margaret Cruikshank, was the daughter of a medical practitioner. David was their third child and second son. His elder