Norman Ernest Pitt was born in Worthing on 25 November 1904, the son of Thomas William Pitt, an army officer, and his wife, Naomi. He was educated at Brighton Grammar School and studied medicine at Guy's Hospital Medical School where he obtained an honours BSc in physiology before qualifying in 1928

Ronald Ludlow Benison was born on 22 November 1908. He was educated at Cambridge University and St Bartholemew's Hospital, London where he qualified in 1934. In due course he was appointed consultant surgeon to the Wolverhampton Group of Hospitals. Ronald Benison had a distinguished academic record

John Robert Blackburne, known as 'Robin', was a consultant surgeon at Hull Royal Infirmary. He was born on 27 August 1909, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, John Devereux Blackburne, was a banker. His mother was Francisca, née Lopez. Robin was sent home to school, at Berkhamstead, from w

Stewart Young Feggetter was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 10 April 1908, the son of William Feggetter, a ship broker, and his wife Amelia, née Young. After early education at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he entered the University of Durham for medical studies. His brother, George,

Kenneth Hester was a GP in Hertfordshire, an honorary surgeon at the St Albans and Mid-Herts Hospital, and assisted at Red House Hospital (now Memorial Hospital) in Harpenden. He was born on 27 October 1908 in Catford, London, the only son of William Clement, a schoolmaster, and Ellen Carter née Smi

Edmund O'Donnell Colley Grattan, the son of Colley Edmund George Grattan, a barrister, was born on 2 February 1910 at Bournemouth. His mother Winifred Katharine Wyndham Barnard was the daughter of Sir Herbert Barnard, a banker, whilst his father's side of the family was descended from Henry Grattan,

Lionel Zelick Cosin, son of Benjamin Cosin, a tobacconist, and his wife Mary, née Magoon, was born in London on 8 November 1910. He was educated at Westminster City School and Guy's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1933. His brother, the radiologist Dr C F Cosin, was senior to him at Guy's. Hi

Cecil Murray was born in Alexandria on 8 January 1910 and was educated at King's College Canterbury and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, qualifying MRCS LRCP in 1933 and MB BS two years later. As a lieutenant colonel surgical specialist in the RAMC he had a distinguished war record in North

George Cuthbert Dewe Roberts was born in Plymouth on 20 August 1909. He was the son of George Augustus Roberts and his wife Florence Muriel, née Mills. His father was at that time honorary surgeon to the Royal Hospital, Devonport, before moving to Winchester where he was appointed to the Royal Hamps

Anthony Stedman Till, known as ‘Tim’, was a consultant surgeon in Oxford. He was born in London, on 5 September 1909, the eldest son of Thomas Marson Till OBE, an accountant, and Gladys Stedman, the daughter of a metal broker in the City. Tim was educated at Ovingdean Hall, Brighton, and Marlborough

Arthur de Sa, the fifth child of Lawrence and Clementine de Sa, was born in Bombay on 13 June, 1910. After education at Antonio da Silva High School, Bombay, he matriculated and secured an entrance scholarship to Elphinstone College, from whence he obtained a Junior Government Scholarship. After sec

David Matthews was a distinguished consultant plastic surgeon based in London. He was born in Bromley, Kent, on 7 July 1911. His father, Harold Hamilton Matthews, was a surveyor. His mother, Jeanie née Johnstone, together with a governess, educated him until the age of 10. He won an exhibition from