'Tim' Merrington was an accomplished surgeon whose career was blighted but whose spirit was undimmed by multiple sclerosis. Within four years of becoming consultant surgeon to University College Hospital, an appointment for which his earlier achievements had long marked him out, he developed the fir

He was born in London in 1912, and received his early education at Doon House Preparatory School, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent. He then went to Uppingham and was promoted to the scientific sixth form in his fourth year. In 1930 he was enrolled as a medical student at the London Hospital Medical College.

Denis Nash was a surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He was born on 10 February 1913 and educated at Dulwich College. He went on to study medicine at Bart's, where he won several scholarships and prizes, and qualified in 1935. After junior posts he became chief assistant in surgery at Bart

Born on 28 October 1911, second son of Joshua Davies, farmer, and Mary Emma Ryder, of Dolfonddu, Cemmaes, he was educated at Cemmaes Primary School, Montgomeryshire and Towyn County School, where he gained an entrance scholarship to University College, London. There he was awarded a gold medal in ph

Arthur Jacob Helfet was born in Calvinia, Cape Province, on 19 February 1907, the eldest son of Leon Helfet, a farmer and businessman, and Sara (née Levin). His early education was at Calvinia High School and he proceeded to the University of Cape Town where he graduated BSc in 1929. His clinical st

David Matthews was a distinguished consultant plastic surgeon based in London. He was born in Bromley, Kent, on 7 July 1911. His father, Harold Hamilton Matthews, was a surveyor. His mother, Jeanie née Johnstone, together with a governess, educated him until the age of 10. He won an exhibition from

William Henry Hyde Joseph de Wolffe de Wytt was born on 20 November 1910 at Wood Green, London. His father had at one time been Professor of Pharmacology in the University at Aberdeen. He was educated at Holloway Secondary School, St Bartholomew's Hospital and after his father's death, at University

Fenton Braithwaite was born on July 28 1908, the third of four sons of Abraham Braithwaite, farmer, of Marton in the Fylde, Lancashire, and of his wife Ann. He attended Baines Grammar School before entering Manchester University to read for an honours degree in mathematics. He then proceeded to rese

Harold Daintree Johnson was born in London on 26 May 1910, the second son of Sir Stanley Johnson, a solicitor and one-time Conservative MP for Walthamstow. His mother, Edith Heather, was the daughter of a professor of mathematics. After education at Westminster School he entered University College L

Girija Nath Sen was the first principal and head of the department of surgery at Sawai Man Singh Medical College, Jaipur, India and director of medical health services, Jaipur. He was a descendant of a distinguished Bengali family who migrated to the princely state of Jaipur in the late 19th century

Guy Blackburn was born on 20 November 1911 in Harrogate, the eldest son of Dr A E Blackburn, a general practitioner, who later moved to Beckenham, Kent. Guy was educated at Rugby (without great exposure to the game!), Clare College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Medical College. At Clare he took u

Jack Collis was a pioneering thoracic surgeon. He was born in Harborne, Birmingham, on 14 July 1911, the son of Walter Thomas Collis, an industrial chemist, and Dora Charton Reay. His choice of medicine was greatly influenced by his local GP and his two medical uncles, one of whom was a professor of