James Rudd Ratcliffe was born on 5 October 1899 in the Cape Province, South Africa, the son of a stock farmer who was killed in the Boer war within a few months of his birth. His mother was distinguished for her bravery in nursing the wounded during the siege of Ladysmith. He went to school in South

Born on 7 January 1879 the son of William John Harnett FRCP Ed, LRCSI, of Barnet, Hertfordshire, he was educated at the City of London School and was a scholar of St John's College, Cambridge, where he took first-class honours in the Natural Sciences Tripos, part I, 1899. He entered St Thomas's Hosp

Nicholas Ernest James was born on 20 August 1912 in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of the Congregational Minister. The family returned to England in 1928 and he completed his schooling at Latymer Upper School and then went to the London Hospital where he graduated with honours in medicine in 193

After passing the MB in 1934 John Russell Barbour was house surgeon to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1935 and to the Adelaide Children's Hospital in 1936. In 1939 he became house surgeon to the Southend General Hospital and passed his FRCS. He was surgical registrar to the London Hospital and su

Alfred John Craig was born at Porta Maggiore, Vittoriosa, Malta, on 29 May 1909. He was the fourth child and fourth son of John Craig, Chief Clerk of HM Dockyard, Malta and Sophie née Gatt. He started his education at HM Dockyard School, Malta, one of the best at the time. In due course he was admit

Lindsay Black was superintendent of the Westland Hospital, New Zealand, and orthopaedic surgeon to all the west coast hospitals on the South Island. He was born in Auckland on 20 November 1914, the third child of Wilfred Alick Black, a solicitor, and Linda née Culpan. He was educated at King's Colle

George Patrikios was chief of surgery at Sebokeng Hospital, Gauteng, South Africa. He was born on 13 February 1937 in Salisbury, Rhodesia, the third child and second son of Greek parents – Nestor Theodore Patrikios, a tobacco grader, and Eudokia Patrikios née Tselentis. He was educated at the David

Mahapitiyage Peiris was born in Panadura, Ceylon, on 28 July 1898, the son of M A Peiris, a merchant, and was educated at St John's School, Panadura, and St Joseph's College, Colombo, before entering Ceylon Medical College qualifying in 1926.After graduation and junior hospital posts he was appointe

Raymond Alexander King was born on 5 January 1918 and his early education was in China where his father and grandfather were medical missionaries. He entered the London Hospital Medical College for clinical studies and qualified in 1939. Within a few months he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and

Ian Harris was surgeon to the government of Brunei. He was born in Adelaide in 1920. His father had emigrated from Scotland, and Ian himself felt profoundly Scottish. He interrupted his medical studies to join the Royal Navy during the second world war. In the North Sea and later in the Mediterranea

Ibrahim El Moghraby was educated at Gordon's Memorial College in Khartoum and the Kitchener School of Medicine, where he graduated with distinction in 1935 after winning prizes in both medicine and surgery. He subsequently joined the Sudan medical service and after appointments at Khartoum Civil

Anders Langenskiöld was a distinguished orthopaedic surgeon in Helsinki, Finland. He was born in Helsinki in 1916. He wrote a doctoral thesis on electrophysiology under the Nobel laureate Ragnar Granit and worked in field hospitals during the war with the Soviet Union, before graduating in medicine