Francis Arthur d'Abreu, always known as Frank, was born in Handsworth, Staffordshire, on 1 October 1904, the second son of Dr John d'Abreu, a medical practitioner, and Teresa Noonan. He came from a large family of twelve children; his younger brother, Professor A d'Abreu FRCS, was also a surgeon.

Vernon Thompson ('VCT') was born at Tutshill, Tidenham, Gloucestershire on 17 September 1905, his father, Cecil Charles Brandon Thompson, being a general practitioner and his mother, Dorothy Christian, née Ford, the daughter of a solicitor. He went to Seafield School, Bexhill-on-Sea, and then on to

David Trevor, the third child and second son of John Trevor, a dairyman and sub- postmaster, and of Sarah (née Jones) the daughter of a sheep farmer, was born in Fulham, London on 24 July 1906. Having started school in North London he was sent to Wales to be brought up by his grandmother n a sheep f

Harold Ridley pioneered the use of Perspex lenses in the treatment of cataract. He was born on 10 July 1906 in Kibworth, Leicestershire. His father, Nicholas Charles Ridley FRCS, was a former Naval surgeon who became an ophthalmic surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary. His mother, Margaret Parker - h

Alphonsus d'Abreu, 'Pon' to his many friends, was the younger son of a Birmingham general practitioner and was born on 5 April 1906. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and at Birmingham University. Following graduation in 1930 and resident and registrar appointments in Birmingham he became a lect