Bob Ratcliffe was a consultant in plastic, hand and reconstructive surgery at Canniesburn Hospital, Glasgow. He was born on 15 June 1957 at St Helens, Lancashire, the son of Robert Ernest Ratcliffe, an electrician, and Jean Elizabeth née Worrall. As a child he was interested in mechanical objects, w

John Vernon Morris qualified in medicine from King's College Hospital. His first appointment was as research assistant in surgery at the West London Hospital and then he became senior surgical registrar at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital. He moved to the Plastic and Oral

Michael Hackett, or Mike, as he was always known, was born on 6 August 1931 in Morecambe, Lancashire. He was the son of Jack Hackett, editor of *The Morecombe Visitor* and the nephew of Desmond Hackett, the well-known *Daily Express* sports writer. He was educated at Preston Catholic College and pro

Graeme Bertram ("Blue") Blake was born in Palmerston North but grew up mainly in Wellington, attending Kelburn Primary School and Wellington College. After his medical intermediate year at Victoria University he studied medicine at Otago University from 1958 to 1961. He met Brenda Hayward, a fellow

Norman Desmond Ashe specialised in orthopaedics and plastic surgery. He qualified from Oxford University in 1945 and passed the fellowship in 1953. He became a house surgeon at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. Moving to London he took a post at the Hammersmith Hospital and then worked in the depar

Born 23 October 1900 at Sutton St Nicholas, Herefordshire. His father, a working man, had migrated to Canada as a boy, and his mother only returned to her native Herefordshire village for his birth, and afterwards took him back to Canada. Some good fortune in dealing with property enabled the family

Stewart Harrison was a leading consultant plastic surgeon and a former president of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand. He was born in Highgate, London, on 15 July 1912, the second son of Archibald Harrison, a manufacturer, and Marion Harrison née Taylor. Both his parents died when he was a

Born on 18 August 1902, the son of F M H Eckhoff, a Norwegian architect, he was educated in South Africa at Durban High School, Natal University and the University of Cape Town, and at Guy's Hospital, where he arrived in 1920 with a senior science scholarship. At Guy's he qualified with the Conjoint

Geoffrey Molyneux Fitzgibbon was born on 24 August 1903 in Swansea. He was the eldest son of Major John Augustine Fitzgibbon of the Royal Garrison Artillery and Elizabeth, née Molyneux. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, near Clitheroe, Lancashire, and later at London University at St Thomas's H

Ruth Ansley Watson was born on 16 September 1926, the daughter of a distinguished engineer in the motor industry who had, during the war, worked secretly with Sir Frank Whittle on the development of the jet engine. Ruth studied medicine at Birmingham University and graduated in 1949. She decided to

Noel Thompson was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 8 September 1914. His father was John G Thompson, a school teacher, and he was educated at King's College, Newcastle, before qualifying as a licentiate in dental surgery in 1936. He remained in hospital practice and passed his BDS degree in 1940. Duri

Norman Hughes was born in Bangor, County Down, on 15 May 1915, the son of William Edwin Hughes, a manager of the Royal Insurance Company in Belfast, and his wife Elizabeth Knox, née Campbell, who was artistic and an enthusiastic gardener and golfer. Hughes was educated at Bangor Grammar School and Q