'Uncle' Tom Griffin was born in Alton where his father, Thomas Noel, was a vicar. His mother was Mary née Rose. He studied medicine at St Mary's, where he qualified in 1934. After junior posts, he specialised in surgery and was appointed honorary assistant surgeon to Scarborough Hospital in 1939. On

Lionel Zelick Cosin, son of Benjamin Cosin, a tobacconist, and his wife Mary, née Magoon, was born in London on 8 November 1910. He was educated at Westminster City School and Guy's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1933. His brother, the radiologist Dr C F Cosin, was senior to him at Guy's. Hi

Eric Vernon was born on 29 November, 1909, in Marple, Cheshire, the son of Arthur Vernon, furnisher and antique dealer. He was educated at Stockport Secondary School (Hallam Scholar) and Manchester University where he graduated BSc in 1930 and MB, ChB in 1933, winning prizes for pathology and paedia

Frank Nicholson was a senior surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary. He was born in Cheshire on 6 September 1909, the son of Charles James Nicholson, a cotton merchant. Educated at St Bee's School, Cumbria, he had a distinguished academic record before proceeding to St Catherine's College, Cambridge,