Ivan Johnston was professor of surgery at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and made major contributions to endocrine surgery. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 4 October 1929, the son of David Johnston, a company secretary, and Mary née Clarke, and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institut

George Birbara was a general surgeon in Leeton, New South Wales. He was born in Sydney on 16 August 1928. His parents, Anis, a tailor, and Amanda (née Diab) had emigrated from Lebanon. George went to Sydney Boys’ High School and Sydney University. After house appointments, he went to England in 19

Alastair Cassie was a consultant surgeon to the Burnley Health District. Earlier posts had been as senior registrar in surgery to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and surgical tutor at Manchester University. In 1956 he passed the fellowship of the Edinburgh college and the FRCS two years later. He con

Brian Maurice was a consultant general surgeon at Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells. He was born on 28 July 1927 in Sutton, Macclesfield, Cheshire, the elder son of Norman B Maurice, a chemist who carried out pioneering research into synthetic nylon, and his wife Dorothy (née Armstead), wh

John Gowan Gray, known as ‘Ian’, was a consultant surgeon at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, Stoke-on-Trent, and the Leek Memorial Hospital. He was born in Dalkeith, Midlothian, and qualified at Edinburgh, where he completed junior house posts. During the Korean War he served his National S

Augustus Appadorai Asirvatham, the eighth of eleven children and third son of Abraham Tahsildar Asirvatham, a revenue officer and of Rachel Ponnammal, was born in Madurai, India, on 29 September 1917. After education at preparatory school and the Church Missionary Society High School at Srivilliputh

Prem Virmani was born at Lyallpur, India, on 14 April 1928, the daughter of Ramnarain Virmani, a businessman, and after early education entered Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi. After junior hospital appointments she came to Great Britain for postgraduate studies, working at Hammersmith Ho

William Lees was born in Largs, Ayrshire, on 21 April 1923. He was the son of Craig Lees, a tailor, and Agnes Mary Storm née Love, the daughter of a stockbroker. He was educated at Ardrossan Academy and Glasgow University, and he completed junior posts at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, where he was m

Ronald Lewis did his surgical training at the West London Hospital and as a research fellow in surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston. He was a consultant surgeon at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest and published papers on vagotomy and other subjects in gastroenterology. He died on 17 February 1

Edward Owen Dawson was born in Adelaide, the second son of Sir Bernard Dawson who went to Dunedin in 1931 as the first full-time Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Otago. He was educated at McGlashan College, Dunedin, and at the University of Otago Medical School where he t

Martin Cox was born in Ladysmith, Cape Province, on 7 March 1922, the son of Herbert Walter Cox, an inspector of banks for Barclays DCO. His early education was at the Diocesan College, Rondebosch, from 1933 to 1939 where in addition to obtaining a first class matriculation he was also captain of bo

John Walker Wilson was born at Alloa in 1899 and studied medicine at Glasgow University before graduating in 1924. After holding postgraduate appointments at the Miller General Hospital, London, and as medical superintendent of the Seamen's Dispensary at Greenwich, he settled in general practice at