Ellery Arthur Mulvihill Ryan was born in 1917 in Melbourne, the son of a leading ophthalmologist who exerted a great influence on his son's character and interest in sport of many kinds. He went to school as a boarder at Xavier College from the age of six till he was eighteen and left with the prize

William Joseph Metcalfe was born on 7 March 1921 in Winnipeg. His parents came from Yorkshire, but he went to school at St Bernadene's College in Buckinghamshire. It was in 1944, at the age of 23, that he started medical studies at Manchester University and graduated MB ChB in 1949. He had a brillia

John Henry Kettle studied at Sydney University where he was President of the Medical Society 1952-3. He graduated MB BS in 1951 and became resident medical officer at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney 1951-2. He came to England and was surgical registrar at St Luke's Hospital, Guildford, Surr

Frank Haine was born in Little Wolford, Oxfordshire, on 13 November 1909, the eldest of four boys. His father, Robert John Haine, was a farmer who had moved from Somerset to the north Cotswolds after the death of his first wife. His mother, Marianne Baines Horne, was the daughter of a corn merchant

William O'Flynn was born in County Limerick on 12 April 1927, into a family with a long tradition in medicine as general practitioners. Unfortunately no details of his forbears are available. After education at Presentation College, Bray, County Wicklow he entered the National University of Ireland

John Stuart Martin was senior consultant otolaryngologist at Hull Royal Infirmary. He was born on 19 June 1917 in Robinstown, County Meath, and qualified from Queen's University Belfast in 1939. After completing his junior appointments in Belfast he joined the RAMC, where he served in North Africa a

Lou Opit was Professor of Community Medicine at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He was born in Curra Mulka, South Australia, on 22 November 1927. His father, Leon, was a medical practitioner, and his mother was Bertha née Goldman. He was educated at St Peter's Collegiate School, Adelaide, and

Robert (Robin) Welsh was born on 23 April 1928 in Witbank, Transvaal, South Africa, the eldest son of Dr Robert William Hepburn Welsh, a general practitioner in Pretoria for thirty years, and Evelyn Jessie Watson. He was educated at St John's College, Johannesburg, and the University of Witwatersran