Arthur Lister was born in Aberdeen on 12 February 1905. His father was a physician and Lord Lister was his great-uncle. He was educated at Lancing and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1927. He began his clinical studies that year, entering the London Hospital with a Price Univers

Geoffrey Cashell, born in 1906, was educated at Westminster School, London, before starting his medical training at King's College Hospital, where he qualified LMSSA and MRCS LRCP in 1930. 1933 was an eventful year: he passed the MB BS London and the FRCS Edinburgh and was appointed honorary consult