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

Karl Nissen, born in Otago in 1906, had a Danish father and an English mother. He was educated in New Zealand and entered the medical school in Otago, where he qualified in 1932. He first went into general practice before deciding to specialise. He undertook research into several generations of a fa

Josiah Grant Bonnin was born at Ararat, Victoria, Australia on 26 January 1909, the only son of Francis Bonnin, a general practitioner surgeon, and Ellen (nee Grant). His early education was at Ararat Grammar School where he won a scholarship to Geelong College, Victoria. He then entered Melbourne U

Robert Reginald Stanley Strang was born on 6 March 1905, at Abbey St Bathans, Berwickshire, where his father was the Minister in the Church of Scotland. He was educated at Fettes College, Glasgow University and King's College, London, and as an undergraduate he gained a distinction in surgery, and p

Noel James Bonnin was born on Christmas Day 1909 in Adelaide. He was the son of Winifred, née Turpin, and James Atkinson Bonnin who had become a Fellow of the College in 1898 and was a Foundation Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons in 1927. His older brother, Lansell, was an orthopaed

When an aspiring surgeon wins the Hallett Prize in the Primary FRCS examination, passes the Final FRCS in the following month and later wins the Jacksonian Prize (a prize double not hitherto achieved) then it is certain that a surgeon will have rare qualities and is one likely to succeed. Such a man

John Arthur Stallworthy was born on 26 July 1906 in New Zealand, the son of Arthur John Stallworthy, a newspaper proprietor who later became Minister of Health. His early education was at Auckland Grammar School and he entered Otago University where he took degrees in both law and medicine, qualifyi