Mike Ward, a pioneering climber and expert on altitude medicine and physiology, and a member of the 1953 expedition team which made the first ascent of Everest, was a consultant surgeon in London’s East End. He was born in London on 26 March 1925, the son of Wilfred Arthur Ward, a civil servant in M

John Heslop was born in Dunedin on March 21, 1925, the only child of James, an Irish immigrant, and Muriel. James died in his 50s and Muriel lived with John's family and played an important role in caring for her two grand-daughters as their parents developed increasingly busy professional careers.