Frank Leo Hutter was born in Auckland on 6 February 1910 and after early education at Auckland Grammar School entered the University of Otago Medical School, qualifying in 1935. He spent a year in house appointments at Palmerston North Hospital before coming to England for further postgraduate appoi

John McNamara was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 29 October 1912, a son of Mathew, an accountant, and Alice (née Gunning). His brother Matthew, also a doctor, died in 1942 while a prisoner of war of the Japanese. John was educated at the Jesuit Colleges of St Patrick and Xavier and at St Vincent's

Eric Vernon Barling was born in Sydney, Australia, on 26 April 1911. His father was Dr James E V Barling, a general practitioner, and his mother was Caroline F M Morgan, daughter of a general practitioner. He was educated at Trinity Grammar School, Dulwich Hill, and the King's School, Parramatta, an