Ronald Lawrie Huckstep was the inaugural professor of trauma and orthopaedic surgery at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and before that at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He was born in Chefoo, China, on 22 July 1926. His father, Herbert George Huckstep, was appointed dir

Colin Walker was an ophthalmic surgeon at the Southampton Eye Hospital from 1962 until his retirement in 1989. He was born into a medical family; his father, Victor Walker, was an eye surgeon in Ipswich, where he grew up; his mother was Marie-Louise Scott. After some difficult times at his prep scho

John Currie was head of the neurosurgical department at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He was born on 1 July 1926 in Darlington, County Durham. His father was a practising physician in Darlington who had trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and served as a doctor in the First World War

Frank Robert Coffin was an oral surgeon in London. He was born in Wandsworth, London, on 21 September 1915, the son of a printer. After qualifying at the Royal Dental Hospital in 1938, he completed house jobs at Leicester Square and at the Middlesex (then the only resident dental post in the country

Victor Cullum was an orthopaedic surgeon in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was born in Cape Town on 25 February 1930, the son of John Richard Leslie Cullum, a businessman, and Olive Mildred née Willmott, who owned a nursery school. He was educated at St George’s Primary School, Cape Town, and St Joh

Michael was born in Waimate, to Ronald, surgeon, general practitioner and Superintendent of the Waimate Hospital, and Mary Armstrong, a talented amateur artist. Both parents played the violin and from an early age Michael learned the piano and singing. He had a younger sister, Janet who would go on

Omar Shaheen was recognised as one of the foremost head and neck cancer surgeons of his era in the UK. His reputation established the ENT department at Guy’s as a centre of excellence for head and neck cancer that attracted both British trainees and fellows from the USA and Australia. He influenced

Rodney Sneath was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham and a pioneer in limb salvage surgery for patients with bone tumours. He was born in Sheffield, the son of Ernest Saville Sneath, a master printer, who owned the ‘Saville Press’. His mother was Dorothy

Peter Diggory was a consultant gynaecologist at Kingston and the Royal Marsden, who, as medical adviser to the Liberal MP David Steel, played a significant role in the passing of the Abortion Act in 1967. He was born in Titley, Herefordshire, the fourth child of Edwin Ernest Diggory, a stationmaster

'Tony' Buckle was born in Yorkshire and educated at Holgates Grammar School, York. In 1944 he enlisted in the RAF but the war ended before he completed his training as a pilot. He was released and began his medical career at Guy's Hospital, graduating in 1950. He received the Golding Prize Medal and

Marvin Sturridge was a consultant thoracic surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital, London. He was born on 12 September 1926 to Frank Sturridge, a doctor, and Helen Sturridge. He was the third son of what was to be a family of seven brothers and a sister, Gloria, who only lived ten days. He and all his si

I first met Scotty when I was an intern in the Casualty Department in my first week at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1958. Scotty was the senior surgical registrar. Three of us new graduates had each seen the same patient and managed him poorly. Scotty took us all aside and explained what we shoul