Kenneth Lumsden was born in Leeds on 26 May 1900 of Scottish ancestry and perhaps it was for this reason that he went to Edinburgh for his medical education, and graduated in 1922. He then joined the Colonial Medical Service and worked in Uganda, and took the Diploma of Tropical Medicine in 1925.

Eric Ian Alan Macdonald was born in Melbourne on 30 October 1901 but soon moved to New Zealand, where he was educated at Remuera District School,Auckland Grammar School and Auckland University where he graduated MB, ChB in 1924. From 1926 to 1930 he obtained specialist training in a number of London

Myles Formby was born in South Australia on 13 March 1901, the son of a sheep farmer on a considerable scale and himself the son of a settler born in Formby, Lancashire. His mother, Elsie Landseer, was the daughter of a prominent South Australian parliamentarian. He was educated at St Peter's Colleg