John Cockin was born at Halesowen, Worcestershire, on 18 November 1932, the son of John Edward Cockin, an engineer, and Mary Green, the daughter of a farmer. From Halesowen Grammar School, he went to medical school in Birmingham, where he gained distinctions in surgery and paediatrics, won the Josep

Robin Azariah was born in India, the grandson of the first Bishop of the United Church of South India. He received his medical training at the Christian Medical College at Vellore where he graduated in 1955 but he travelled to England for much of his surgical training. His main interests were in ort

Terry Botting was an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon. He was born on 3 January 1934 in Birmingham. His father, Royston Eric Jack Botting, was a machine tool setter, and his mother was Jessica Sarah née Tidmarsh. He was educated at Bablake School, Coventry, and Birmingham University. He became cons

Born in Tarakeswar, West Bengal, India on 1 August 1928, Sankar Das Sarkar's father, Nilmadhab Sarkar, was a general practitioner. His mother, Kanaklata Mitra, was the daughter of a district judge in Bengal. His father died when he was only eight, and he went through years of struggle and insecurity

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

Brian Roper was born in Sheffield on New Year's Day, 1933. His father, Arnold, was a railway executive, and his mother, Nora Tuxford, was the daughter of a master cutler. He was educated at Chesterfield School and Queen's College, Oxford (where he won the Legge Prize) and on to University College Ho