Anthony ('Tony') Harding Rains was the first holder of the chair of surgery at Charing Cross Hospital, an authority on diseases of the biliary system, but arguably best known for his longstanding editorship of *Bailey and Love's short practice of surgery* (London, H K Lewis). Tony was the tenth c

Peter Ferry Jones, clinical professor of surgery at the University of Aberdeen, was an outstanding surgical craftsman, a major academic contributor to coloproctology and paediatric surgery, as well as a renowned teacher of operative surgery. He was born on 29 February 1920 in London, the son of Erne

David Jenkins was born on 29 September 1917, at Llanrhystwd, near Aberystwyth, in Cardiganshire. His father, a language graduate and later HM Inspector of Schools in Wales, was then in the Army and only that month had been promoted Captain and awarded the Military Cross. Following the war the family

Pritam Singh was chief medical officer, director of health services and deputy secretary of health to the Punjab government in India. He was born in Patiala, India, on 9 January 1920. His father, Harcharan Singh Seraph, was an architect who had worked with Lutyens on the building of New Delhi. His m

Owen Daniel was a consultant general surgeon for the Clwyd and Deeside Health Board, Wales. He was born in Ystradgynlais, Breconshire, on 19 February 1917, the third child of David Daniel, a mining engineer and colliery manager, and his wife, Annie. Brought up in the south Wales valleys, Owen and hi

John Davis was a consultant general surgeon at the Whittington Hospital, London. From Cambridge he went to St Thomas’ Hospital for his clinical training and house appointments. After qualifying he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for two and a half years in a minesweeping squadron. Afte

John Hadfield was an outstanding teacher and ambassador for British surgery. He was born in Long Ashton near Bristol on 19 April 1923. His family hailed from Plymouth. His father, Geoffrey Hadfield, was professor of pathology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and later became the Sir William Collins prof

Gilbert Benjamin Rowland Walkey - known as 'Ben' - was a surgeon who spent most of his working life in India. He was born in Marazion, Cornwall, on 27 June 1916. His father, Oliver, was a clerk in holy orders. Ben was one of seven children. He had an older brother, Sam, and five younger brothers and

Keith Lothian was a general surgeon in Birkenhead. He was born in 1919 in Dunedin, New Zealand, and raised in the city. He studied medicine at Otago University, qualifying in 1943. He then joined the New Zealand Medical Corps, becoming a captain. In 1947 he worked his passage to the UK as a ship's

Kenneth Peter Somerville Caldwell was a consultant surgeon in Exeter. He was born in Mussoorie, India, on 1 October 1914, the son of Kenneth Somerville Caldwell, a professor of chemistry, and Gertrude Elizabeth Caldwell née Sailman. He was educated at Stoneygate School, Leicester, and then Charterho

Born on 2 December 1919 at Rhos, a village near Wrexham, North Wales, John Lloyd Davies was the son of a general practitioner surgeon at Wrexham Hospital, and grandson of a general practitioner. Educated at Epsom College, he obtained a scholarship to St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1937, where he quali

Thomas Gordon Evans Loosemore was born in Caerphilly on 23 June 1918. He was educated at Plymouth College, St John's College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital. He graduated MB BCh in 1943 and MA in 1943. He obtained the MRCS, LRCP in 1943, the FRCS in 1948 and the MCh in 1951. During the sec