Born in Bristol on 20 June 1912, 'Bill' Waterfall's father was Robinson Waterfall, a chemical manufacturer of fertilisers. His mother was Mary Louisa Radley, the daughter of a schoolmaster. He was educated at Bootham School, York, where he won an entrance scholarship, but was taken ill, and passed t

Joseph Mason qualified from St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1935 and received his training in surgery at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Hull Royal Infirmary. He had a special interest in urology and was resident medical officer at St Paul's Hospital. He was consultant surgeon to Hull and East Riding H

Denis George Calvert was a consultant surgeon at Gloucester Royal Infirmary. He was born in Belfast on 23 April 1928, where his father Thomas George Calvert was an insurance manager. His mother, Isobel née Stafford, was the daughter of the fire chief of Belfast. He was educated at Epsom and the Midd

Bernard Sanger was at school in Hastings and received his medical training at the London Hospital where he qualified in 1934. He pursued his surgical career at the London Hospital before his appointment to Southend Municipal Hospital in 1938. Rodney Maingot was a visiting surgeon at that hospital

Alexander McCalister (known as 'Alex') was a consultant general surgeon at the Ulster Hospital. He was born in Belfast on 6 June 1925 and grew up in rural Northern Ireland in relatively poor circumstances: his mother cooked on an open peat fire and they had no piped water in the home. His family sug

William Hardy Hendren (always known as Hardy) was universally accepted as being the leading American paediatric surgeon of his generation. Known worldwide for his meticulous surgical technique and his pioneering ability to correct seemingly intractable anatomical conditions, he was driven by the man

Leslie Norman Pyragh was born at Farnley, near Leeds, on 11 April 1899, the son of a headmistress. Unfortunately no further details of his forbears are available. He was educated at Leeds Central High School and served in the army during the final stages of the first world war. He then read medicine

Ingall received his medical education at the Westminster Hospital and qualified with the conjoint diploma in 1952. He gained the London MB BS in the following year. After holding house posts at the Westminster Hospital and surgical registrarships there and at the Royal Portsmouth Hospital, he moved

Andrew Higgins was born in Middlesex in 1943 and qualified from the Royal Free Hospital, London, in 1968. He studied surgery at Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Northern Hospital and at the Royal Free Hospital. He married a fellow student, Jane, and they had one son and three daughters - one of whom i

Born on 5 July 1905 in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, George Young Feggetter was the sixth son and the ninth child of William Feggetter, a shipbroker and coal exporter, and Amelia née Young, the daughter of a tobacconist. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and studied m

Huw Williams was born in Cardiff on 12 March 1946. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, and at the Welsh National School of Medicine in Cardiff, where he qualified MB BCh in 1969. He trained in Cardiff where he became lecturer and was later Smith and Nephew research fellow in Newcastle

James Cosbie Ross was born in Liverpool on 17 May 1904. He was the son and grandson of doctors, his father being James Ross, a general practitioner in Walton, Liverpool. His mother was Delia Cosbie and James, as the eldest child, took the name of Cosbie. James used this name and linked Ross as 'Cobb