Born in 1930, Dulal Ghosh was raised by a widowed mother in humble circumstances and won a scholarship to the Calcutta Medical College, qualifying MB BS in 1954 and gaining the Calcutta MS in 1961. He came to Britain in 1966 and passed the Fellowship in 1969, gaining the Edinburgh Fellowship in 1968

Tony Low was born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, on 27 June 1940. His father, David Irving Low, was a general practitioner. His mother was Dorothy Campbell née Byrns. He was educated at the Scots College, Sydney, and St Andrew's College, University of Sydney. He did junior posts at the Royal Princ

Robert Richardson qualified from Durham in 1961 and, after junior posts, specialised in orthopaedics, training in Newcastle, Middlesborough and at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital, Oswestry. In 1974 he was awarded the Malkin travelling scholarship, before taking up his consultant appointment

Robert Guerin was born in Adelaide on 8 July 1932. His father, Robert Guerin, and mother, Vera Jean née Langley, were both schoolteachers. He was educated at Adelaide High School, where he won numerous prizes and became head prefect. He qualified with credit, winning the gynaecology prize, from the