Ron Lowe was consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. He was born in Melbourne on 14 November 1913, the third son of William E Lowe, a contractor, and Isabella née Hinde. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and qualified as a pharmacist at the University o

Kevin McNamara was born in Auckland on 14 January 1915. His mother died when he was 12, leaving seven children, of whom Kevin was the oldest. His father remarried and had a further nine children. He was educated at the Sacred Heart College, from which he went to Otago University, qualifying at the a