Born on 6 July 1883, he was the eldest son of Godfrey Huggins, member of the London Stock Exchange, of Berkhamsted, and Emily Blest, his wife. After preparatory school Huggins went to Malvern College in January 1898, but had to leave in July 1899 because his schooling was cut short by illness as he

Duncan Gillard Churcher was born at Dunoon, Scotland, on 4 October 1894, one of six children of Dr Thomas Churcher, a medical missionary, and Margaret, née Robertson, an Edinburgh trained nurse. He was educated at the City of London School and obtained a scholarship to St Thomas's Hospital which he

Eric John Greenwood was born on 10 October 1902 in Greenwich, London, the only son of Eustace Noel Greenwood, an accountant and former mayor of Greenwich, and Gertrude Freida Scarr. He was educated at the Rowan School, Greenwich, before starting medicine at Guy's Hospital in 1918. He then went to Do

Raymond Last was born on 26 May 1903 in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of John Last, a bookseller, and Mildred Louisa Rundle - interestingly he always made a point of describing himself as English! He was educated at Adelaide High School and the University of Adelaide, where he was taught anatom

Zach Thomas was born in India and qualified from Vellore with a gold medal. After early medical posts in India and Tanzania, he went to England to train in surgery. After passing the FRCS, he emigrated to Canada in 1981 to do general practice in Regina, Saskatchewan. He was a founding member of the

Charles Halstead was born in Auckland on 11 September 1913. His father, Regement Dines Halstead, was company manager of the NZ Union Shipping Company, and his mother was Ivy Davies, née MacNab. He went to school at Timaru Boys' High School, and then to Otago Medical School. He held junior posts in D

Robert Wellesley-Cole was born in Kossoh, Freetown, Sierra Leone on 11 March 1907, the eldest son of Wilfred Sidney Ageh, a civil engineer and superintendent of Freetown waterworks, and Elizabeth, née Okafor-Smart, a West African of Krio race. His Nigerian great-grandfather had settled in Freetown t

William Francis was born on 10 June 1906 in Twechar, Dumbartonshire, the eldest son of the Reverend James Francis and his wife Janet Bilsland, née Mackellar. He was educated at the Greenock Academy and at Glasgow University, where he distinguished himself by winning the BMA Essay Prize. He qualified

Kenneth Rees-Thomas was the son of Arthur, an accountant in Roseneath, New Zealand, and his wife Edith Amy, née Heal. He was educated at Roseneath Primary School and then at Wellington College. On leaving school he trained and qualified as a pharmacist, but then on the advice of a family medical fri

John Arthur Rolland O'Regan (Ro) was born in Wellington on 1 June 1904, the son of Mr Justice O'Regan. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Wellington, and graduated from the Otago Medical School in 1928. He was house surgeon at Wellington Hospital and went to London in 1929 for surgical trainin

Frederick Ross Stansfield was born at Ilkley, Yorkshire, on 28 September 1904, the son of a cotton manufacturer. His early education was at Ilkley Grammar School before entering the University of Leeds and St Bartholomew's Hospital for medical studies. He qualified in 1928 with honours in medicine a

Marjorie Olive Bennett was a general practitioner and gynaecologist. She was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, on 23 July 1915. Her father, Reginald Stanley Dunster, was a headmaster, and her mother, Olivia Sextone, a headmistress. From Newport High School she won a state scholarship to Bristol Univer