Jack Crawford was born on 19 November 1917 and received his education at Brentwood School and the London Hospital Medical College. After graduation he obtained a post in the clinical laboratory before his house appointments at the London. In September 1939 he became house surgeon to Douglas Northfie

John Simon Lekias was born at Northam, Western Australia, on 15 March 1921. His father Sios Lekias, a businessman, had emigrated to Australia from the island of Kastellorizo, near Rhodes. His mother, Despina Marcou, was a refugee of the Russian revolution who came from the Greek colony in Odessa and

Laurie Lassman was born in London on 21 June 1913, the son of Henry Lassman, an electrical engineer, and Julia, née Abrahams, a Hebrew bookbinder. He was educated at Raine's School and went on to the London Hospital Medical College to study medicine, qualifying with the conjoint diploma in 1937 and

Brodie Hughes was born in Broadstairs, Kent, on 21 September 1913, the son of E T C Hughes, MRCS, assistant medical superintendent of Lewisham Infirmary. He was educated at Eastbourne College and University College, London, before going to University College Hospital for clinical studies. He qualifi

Anthony Booth, neurosurgeon, was born in Liverpool on 20 April 1934, the son of Edmund Booth, a company director, and Henrietta, a teacher. He was educated at Gordonstoun School and King's College, Cambridge, completing his medical studies at University College Hospital, London. His training in n

Alan Richardson was a consultant neurosurgeon at Atkinson Morley's Hospital, London. He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, on 21 August 1926, the youngest of four sons of William Richardson OBE, company secretary for an oil company, and his wife, Daisy. He was educated at St Egbert's Roman Catholic Sch

Alastair Robson - the pioneer neurosurgeon in Canberra - was born in Sydney in 1926 and went to Shore School in north Sydney where his father was Headmaster. He rowed in the Shore VIII, and after leaving school he coached the senior crew. It was at Shore that he met his future wife, Anne who became

Gopal Baratham was a consultant neurosurgeon in Singapore. He was born on 9 September 1935, into a Tamil Brahmin family, originally from southern India, who had moved to Malaya. His father was Dr Baratham Ramaswamy Sreenivasan, one of the founders of the Singapore Medical Association, and the first

Geoffrey Knight was born on 4 October 1906 at Lowfield Heath, Surrey, the only son of Cureton Hope Overbeck Knight, a produce broker, and Ida Emily Norton, the daughter of a physician whose uncles served as surgeons in the Crimean War. He was educated at Wadham House School, Hove, and Brighton Colle

George Tutton was born in Stockport, Lancashire, on 11 May 1913, the son of a company director and his wife Eleanor Gertrude, née Bailey. He was educated at King William's School on the Isle of Man and at the University of Manchester, where he qualified with the MB in 1939. He did several resident s

John Potter was a consultant neurosurgeon and director of postgraduate education at Oxford. He was born in London on 28 February 1920. His father, Alistair Richardson Potter, was a brewer. His mother was Mairi Chalmers née Dick, a housewife whose father had edited the songs of Robert Burns. He was e

Kenneth Paine was born in London on 16 October 1921, the only son of William James Paine, an accountant, and his wife Edith, née Ellis. He won a LCC scholarship to the City of London School whence he gained a City of London scholarship to St Thomas's Hospital. There he won the Kitchiner scholarship