David Fletcher was born in Beccles, Derbyshire, in 1930. He completed his medical education in Leeds and specialised in surgery, particularly in colorectal surgery. He was appointed consultant surgeon to Scarborough Hospital in 1968, where he became chairman of the Scarborough district medical staff

Lester Warner Lowe was born on March 29, 1932 at Heckmondwike, Yorkshire, the son and second child of William Henry Lowe, schoolmaster, and his wife Anne, née Smith, the daughter of Percy Smith, director of the Yorkshire Rope and Twine Works. He was educated at Heckmondwike Grammar School from 1940