Brian Coghlan was a consultant cleft lip surgeon at Guy’s Hospital. He was a schoolboy international cyclist and he toyed with the idea of becoming a professional. Medicine won, and he studied at Bristol. His intercalated physiology degree involved working on a project with Ron Piggott at the French

Arthur Henry Martin Littlewood was a consultant plastic surgeon in Liverpool. He was born in Guernsey in 1923 and went to school there. On the outbreak of war he went to England, but was dismayed to be declared unfit for military service. He went to Downing College, Cambridge, and then to University

Benjamin Rank was considered by many to be the father of plastic surgery in Australia. He was born on 14 January 1911 in Heidelberg, Victoria, where his father, Wreghitt Rank, owned a grain store and mill. His mother was Bessie née Smith. He was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, and Ormond Coll

John Frederick North (known as 'JFN') was a consultant plastic surgeon in the west Midlands. He was born in Southport, Lancashire, on 12 May 1917, the only child of John William Allen North, a solicitor, and Frances Jane North née Allen. He went to school at Cheltenham College, and studied medicine

Michael Arthur Senior was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Canniesburn unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He began his career as a dentist; he qualified BDS in Leeds in 1984, spent four years in Bradford as a dentist, and worked in the oral surgery department at Bradford Hospital. He then decided to

Thomas Laird Barclay was a consultant plastic surgeon at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, St James Hospital, Leeds and St Luke's Hospital Bradford. Born in Huddersfield on 26 March 1925, the son of William and Mary Frances Barclay, he studied medicine at Edinburgh University. He qualified MB ChB in

Robin Lyell Blin Beare was a consultant plastic surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, and St Mary's Hospital, London. He was born on 31 July 1922 in Weybridge, where his father was a surgeon/GP. Robin went to Radley School, where he was a junior scholar. In 1940 he joined the RAF, tra

Emma Hormbrey was a plastic surgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. She was born Emma Flindall in London on 4 October 1968 and studied medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School. She qualified with the MB BS in 1994 and gained her FRCS in 1998. Prior to her post in Oxford, she

Maurice Kinmonth was a plastic surgeon in Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln. He was born in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland. His father, George Henry Kinmonth, was a general practitioner and on account of the deteriorating political situation in Ireland the family moved to London, where he was i

Campbell Reid was a leading hand surgeon. He was born on 25 February 1921 in Cardiff, the son of David William Reid, a general practitioner, and Edith Mary née Smith, a nurse. His grandfather, David Spence Clark Reid, had also been a GP. He was educated at Christ’s College, Finchley, where he played

Michael David Brough was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born on 4 July 1942 in London, where his father, Kenneth David Brough, was chairman of Metal Box Overseas Ltd. His mother was Frances Elizabeth née Davies, the daughter of Walter Ernest Llewellyn Davies,

John Samuel Pattison Wilson, or ‘Iain’, as he was generally known, was a plastic surgeon in London with a particular interest in head and neck surgery. He was born in Edinburgh on 16 October 1923, and at the age of six went away to boarding school at the Edinburgh Academy. He remained in Edinburgh t