Kenneth Lennox Wilson, the son of the Rt Rev Cecil Wilford Wilson, Anglican Bishop of Middleton, and of Winifred Marion Wilson (née McCall), was born at Bath, Somerset, on 11 October 1918. He was educated at Sedbergh Preparatory School, Marlborough College and Christ's College, Cambridge, before ent

In the course of his career, Douglas Roy held appointments as a professor of surgery on three continents. He was born on 10 April 1925, the son of Arthur Roy and Edith Mary (née Brown). Educated at Paisley Grammar School, he went to Glasgow University to study medicine. After house appointments, he

David Stirk was a consultant general surgeon in Barnstaple and an authority on golf. He was born in Exeter on 1 March 1916, the son of a doctor. He was educated at Blundell’s and studied medicine at St Mary’s Hospital. After five years in the RAMC, three of which were spent in India, he returned t

John Nevile Aston was born in Cheltenham on 4 March 1919 and educated at Monkton Coombe School where he was distinguished academically and as an oarsman. In 1937 he entered St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College where he qualified in 1942 and became house surgeon there for six months. He was then

Bryan Jennett, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow, devised, with colleagues, two key diagnostic tools – the Glasgow Coma Scale, used throughout the world to assess consciousness, and the Glasgow Outcome Scale, used for patients with head injury. His work led to the defining of pe

Sir Patrick McEwen Forrest was regius professor of clinical surgery at the University of Edinburgh. Pat, as he was known to all, was a giant of British and international surgery, and his contributions to the management of breast cancer were immense. He was born in Lanarkshire, the son of Andrew

Charles Humphrey Jules Rey was a general surgeon in Guernsey. He was born on 15 August 1915, in Bognor Regis, into a family of French origins. His father, Jules Frederick Rey, was a general practitioner. His mother was Bertha Maud née Bevan. He was sent as a boarder to his preparatory school and fro

Peter French was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at St George's Hospital, London. He was born on 2 July 1921, in Temple Fortune, north London, the eldest son of the reverend Reginald French and his wife, Gertrude née Haworth. His father was the local vicar, later moving to Stepney in east London, a

Richard Anthony Payne, known to all as 'Tony', was a consultant general surgeon at the North Middlesex Hospital in London. He was born on 17 July 1921, in Worcester, the son of Herbert George Payne, a master at Haberdasher's Aske's School, and Jessica Sweeney. He was educated at his father's school

D’Arcy Laidlaw was a radiologist in Brisbane, Australia. He was born in Witbank, Transvaal, South Africa, on 12 November 1921. His father John was an inspector of railways. His mother was Caroline née Wilson. He was educated at Reading School, from which he went to Oxford for his preclinical studies

John Edward Holgate was born in Vizagapatam, India, on 21 October 1921, the son of Maurice James Holgate, who was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Medical Service. His mother was Miss Florence Polyxenie Marsden. John was sent to Epsom College and then to St Bartholomew's Hospital graduating MB BS