Alexander Kates qualified in medicine from St Bartholomew's Hospital where he was a house surgeon. He became registrar at the Postgraduate Medical School, London, and then consultant in orthopaedic and traumatic surgery to the Kensington and Westminster Area Health Authority. During the second world

John Hicks was born in Bristol on 1 February 1915, the son of William Herbert Hicks, a printer's manager, and his wife Norah Gertrude, née Lane. He studied medicine at Birmingham University, obtained his Fellowship in 1942 and served as a ship's surgeon in the Merchant Navy between 1942 and 1946.

Dennis Henry George Walker was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, on 17 January 1917, the eldest son of Thomas Presland Walker, a bank official and Edith Mildred Walker, née Passey. He attended Clare House School, Beckenham, Kent, and Eltham College, Mottingham. He studied medicine at King's College and