Having received his early education in Glasgow, Ivan Joffe spent the majority of his professional life at Plumstead, where he was on the staff of St Nicholas Hospital. He had an aptitude for administration and became chairman of the hospital medical committee. After retirement, he moved with his new

John Reginald Thompson was born on 13 March 1917 in Paignton, Devon, the son of John Thompson FRCS, GP surgeon of Torquay and Paignton and Elsie, née Royle. His mother was one of the first women to qualify as a doctor when she passed the MD in Manchester in 1909. He was educated at Sherborne School

Ken Wilkinson qualified from St Mary's Hospital in 1942. After house jobs he served in the RNVR as surgeon lieutenant, returning to complete his training at the Canadian Red Cross Hospital, Taplow. He was a true general surgeon, and although his main interest was in urology, he resisted the separati

John Withycombe was born in Exeter on 11 August 1918. the son of Arthur John Withycombe, a barrister, and his wife Winifred Annie, née Kiddle. He was educated at Sherbome, Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, where lie qualified in 1942. After only one house job

Anthony Partridge was born on 8 February 1920, in London, the son of Walter Partridge, a dental surgeon, and Evelyn Edgar. After education at Framlingham College, Suffolk, he entered Charing Cross Hospital where he qualified and held appointments as house surgeon in general surgery, and as house sur

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 Francis Neil Ward-McQuaid, the son of Colonel John FTP Ward-McQuaid and his wife Enid Ecila, née Cheshire, was born on 30 December 1918 at Neston, Cheshire. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, where he won several prizes and was a notable cricketer. As the son of a serving army o