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

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