Leslie Norman Pyragh was born at Farnley, near Leeds, on 11 April 1899, the son of a headmistress. Unfortunately no further details of his forbears are available. He was educated at Leeds Central High School and served in the army during the final stages of the first world war. He then read medicine

Francis John Milward was a consultant surgeon in Chesterfield. He was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, on 5 April 1903, the son of Henry Tomson Milward, managing director of a needle-making firm, and Elsie Townsend née Newton, the daughter of an Anglican canon. An uncle, Frederick Milward FRCS, was

Leslie Norman Pyrah was born at Farnley, near Leeds, on 11 April 1899, the son of a headmistress. Unfortunately no further details of his forbears are available. He was educated at Leeds Central High School and served in the army during the final stages of the first world war. He then read medicine

Arthur Elliot-Smith was born in Cairo on 3 June 1901. He was the son of Sir Grafton Elliot-Smith the distinguished anatomist and anthropologist; his mother's maiden name was Kathleen Macready. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, before coming to University College Hospital and on from which

Kennedy Burnside was born in Melbourne on 9 December 1913. He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School before going to the University of Melbourne to read medicine. He graduated in 1937 and was successively resident and registrar at the Alfred Hospital in 1938 and 1939. During t

Lawrence Sydney Arthur Boothroyd, known as 'Boots', was a consultant general surgeon and urologist at Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, on 12 September 1920, the son of Sydney Lionel Boothroyd, a master printer and lithographer and t

Carl Frederick Leberne received his professional education at the University of Sydney, whence he qualified MB, BS in 1955. After his training years at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, he specialised in surgery, beginning as a demonstrator in anatomy at Sydney University in 1958. On coming to Britain

John Stephen Ramage, the son of William Ramage, a coal master's traveller, and of Isobel Leitch Ramage (née Forster), was born at Greenock, Scotland, on 22 September 1900. He was educated at Greenock High School and Glasgow University, and also spent one year at Edinburgh University, graduating in 1

Cyril Charles Wiggishoff was chief of staff at St Joseph's Hospital, Chicago. He was born in Paris, France, on 17 March 1923, the son of Charles Cecil Wiggishoff, company director of his family's perfumery factory, and Marguerite Wiggishoff née Rouy. His paternal great grandfather, Jacques Charles W

David Ronald Davies, always 'DR' to his friends, was born on 11 May 1910 in Clydach, Swansea, and remained readily identifiable as a Welshman throughout a long surgical career in London, followed by retirement to Exmoor. After schooling at the Ystalyfera County School, which inevitably gave him an e

William Hamer, son of William, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Alice Marjorie, née Evans, was born in London on 22 July 1919. From Boston Grammar School and Oakham School, Rutland, he went to St Mary's Hospital, London. He held house appointments at the Postgraduate Medical School and was infl

John Holmes Tasker was born in London on 20 January 1917, the son of Dr Ludwig Tasker, a general practitioner, and May, née Gadsden, a registered nurse. He was educated at Epsom College before entering Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1935 with the Haviland exhibition. After completing pre-clin