Derek Berg was born in 1926 in Hong Kong, where his father was a shipping broker and Norwegian Consul-General. His Australian mother Constance died of cerebral malaria just before his third birthday, and Derek was sent to live with his aunt in Adelaide. His father remarried and he returned to Hong K

Reginald Hooper, neurosurgeon and radiologist, was born on 8 October 1909, the youngest of six children. He was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, where he rowed and won a scholarship to Ormond College, Melbourne University. During his medical course he won the Baldwin Spencer prize in zoology,