Allen James Whitaker, the fifth son of Dr James Smith Whitaker who was formerly a family doctor in Great Yarmouth, was born in Hendon on 16 April 1905. His father, having been the first medical secretary of the British Medical Association, became senior medical officer at the Ministry of Health on i

Ronald George Gibson, the only child of George Edward Gibson, a pharmacist, and of Gladys Muriel (née Prince), was born at Southampton on 28 November 1909. He was educated at Osborne House School, Romsey, and Mill Hill School before graduating from St John's College, Cambridge. He then went to St Ba