Peter Islwyn Hywel-Davies was born on 3 July 1914 at Abercynon, Glamorgan, and was educated at the Central School, Aberdare, and Cardiff University where he took the BSc degree in 1933. He then came to the Middlesex Hospital where he qualified with the Conjoint Diploma in 1936, and took the London M

Laurence Edgar Davison was born in London on 4 April 1907, the son of Edgar Knights, a master tailor, and Katherine, née Davison. His early education was at Cheltonia College and later at Dulwich College before entering Middlesex Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1931. During house appointments

John Francis Rogers Bentley was born in India on 5 March 1920. He entered Guy's Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1942. After initial house appointments in the Emergency Medical Service at Guy's Hospital and the North Middlesex Hospital he joined the Indian Medical Service, rising to the rank o

Paul Savage was a consultant general surgeon at the Whittington Hospital, London. He was born, with his twin sister, on 28 January 1916 in Cambridge, the second son of Sir Edward Graham Savage, the chief education officer of the London County Council, and May Savage née Thwaites, who was a nurse at

Alfred Bingold was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, and Lewisham Hospital. He was born in London on 27 February 1913. His father died when he was very young, and his mother, Maria Martha, née Schwager, remarried. Alfred was adopted by her second husband and took his

John Reginald St George Stead was born in Grahamstown, South Africa, on 20 June 1908. His father was William Yewdall Stead, a missionary priest, and his mother, Miriam Peterson, was the daughter of an architect. He was the sixth child in the family and the third boy. He was educated at St Andrew's P

John Parry was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, on 8 May 1914. His father, William Thomas Parry, was a barrister who died in 1917. His mother, Constance Esther née Daniel, had been a teacher of domestic science. His mother married Thomas Davies, a general practitioner, in Cardiff in 1920. John was e

Richard Dawson was born in 1916 and educated at the Bishop's Stortford College and University College Hospital, qualifying with the conjoint diploma in 1939. He joined the RAMC, although the formality of service life during the war was not very compatible with Dick's debonair and easy manner. He dec

William Weatherston Wilson, known as 'Bill', was a highly-respected general surgeon who spent his entire consultant career in Lancashire. He was first appointed as an assistant surgeon at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, in July 1949; he was then 'upgraded' in February 1950 to consultant su

Bob Horton was a consultant surgeon at the United Bristol Hospitals. He was born in south London on 5 July 1917, the son of Arthur John Budd Horton, a schoolteacher, and Isabel Horton née Cotton, the daughter of a master mariner. He was educated at the Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, and studied medici

Peter Choyce was a leading ophthalmic surgeon who championed and developed artificial lens implants. He was born on 1 March 1919 in London. His father, Charles Coley Choyce, was professor of surgery at University College Hospital, and a member of Council at the time of his death in 1937. His mother

Frank Cockett was internationally known for his ground-breaking advances in the understanding of varicose veins and venous ulcers. He identified a new condition called the 'ankle blow out syndrome' and described the operation needed to cure it, which became universally known as 'the Cockett operatio