Herbert Spencer was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, on 8 February 1915, the son of Hubert John Spencer, a coat manufacturer, and his wife Edith Maude, née Lodge. His early education was at Highgate Junior and Senior Schools, and he entered St Mary's Hospital Medical School for his medical studies, wh

Julian Bloom was born in Sheffield on 30 June 1923 and moved to London at the age of seven where he was educated at the Fleet School, Kilburn, and the Regent Street Polytechnic. In 1942 he entered Middlesex Hospital Medical School and in 1946 was student house surgeon to Lord Webb-Johnson, Sir Eric