Few surgeons lived their lives as fully as Desmond Albert Cooper, Dr Des. He was an astonishingly good surgeon, a fine man and a man of many talents. As my son said ‘The Doc was funny, generous, kind, helpful, clever, and friendly and a great sailor and a good fisherman.’ Before he died we chatt

Ken Brearley started life in Hampton (Melbourne) where he attended both Hampton Primary and Hampton High schools before winning a scholarship for Years 9-12 at Scotch College, which was quite some distance away in Hawthorn. In 1948, having won a place into Medicine at the University of Melbourne in

Peter Catts was a general surgeon in New South Wales, Australia. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 12 April 1940, the son of Stanley Victor Catts and Vera Jean Catts née Reynolds. He went to the UK for surgical training and gained his FRCS in 1967. He then returned to Australia, where h

Kevin William Hinrichsen was born on 7 December 1924, the eldest child of William Henry Hinrichsen, a Church of Christ minister and general practitioner at Thornbury and Florence (nee Hall), a school teacher. His later schooling was at Scotch College where he was an outstanding under age athlete and

Kevin Chambers was a consultant surgeon in Mildura, Victoria, Australia. He grew up in Sydney, the youngest of three children of Raymond John Chambers and Margaret Scott Chambers née Brown. His father Ray was the first professor of accounting at Sydney University. His work on accounting attracted ci

Mr Alan Bromwich OBE KStJ RFD MB BS FRCS FRACS had the reputation of a fearless and fast surgeon, but at the same time a gentle and knowledgeable man. Born in England in 1924, Alan graduated in Medicine from King's College Cambridge in 1945, then served with the Royal Air Force from 1946 to 1948.

It has been difficult to write about Donald Sidey owing to his country of birth, his age and his family, most of whom have either died or disappeared. I will to do my best to record some of the significant parts of his surgical life, particularly in Adelaide where he was involved in the rapid and im

Patrick Francis O’Dwyer was a surgeon in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He was born on 9 December 1926 in Toowoomba, Queensland, the son of Edward and Catherine O’Dwyer, and was brought up in humble circumstances in Harristown on the outskirts of Toowoomba. O’Dwyer was educated at Newtown State Sc

Keith Ewen was born in Lower Hutt, the son of David Ewen and Marian Nathan. His father was managing-director of Sargood Son & Ewen, a prominent family business, Mayor of Lower Hutt and subsequently knighted for his many community and business contributions. There were two older siblings – brother, I

Walter John Burfitt-Williams was born in Bellevue Hill, Sydney, on 27 June 1927. His father, Grosvenor John Williams, was an ophthalmic surgeon. His mother, Mary Boyd Burfitt, was a physician. Two of his brothers were doctors - Thomas was a physician and Grosvenor, an ophthalmologist. Walter was

Professor Richard (Dick) Clayton Bennett AM, FRACS had been a Fellow of this College since 1960 and a graduate of the University of Adelaide. As a surgeon in practice, he was based at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne from 1966 to 1990. Professor Bennett was admitted to the Court of Honour in 1987

Edward Ambrose Allcock was born in Leicestershire in either 1918 or 1919. He first visited Australia while serving as a surgeon lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the second world war. After passing the fellowship of the college in 1955, he returned and settled in Melbourne becoming a general surge