Mathias Paneth was a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Brompton Hospital, London. He was born in Amsterdam in 1921, the son of a doctor who subsequently worked as a surgeon in Sumatra, where he developed a special interest in tuberculosis surgery. Matt was educated at Gordonstoun and Christ Church, Oxfo

Paul Vincent Wadsworth was a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon to the Brighton and Haywards Heath hospitals and, for many years, also principal laryngologist to Glyndebourne Opera. He was born in Harewood, Yorkshire, on 2 November 1919, the son of Joseph Harold Wadsworth, a school master, and

Henry Shaw was a pre-eminent otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon. He was born in Stafford on 16 March 1922, the son of Benjamin Henry Shaw, a physician, psychiatrist, artist and fisherman, and Adelaide née Hardy, who became a JP and Staffordshire County councillor. His father came from a dist

Herman Christian Nohl-Oser was a consultant surgeon at Harefield Hospital, where he specialised in pulmonary and oesophageal surgery, with a special interest in paediatric surgery. He was born Herman Christian Nohl (in the 1960s he add the ‘Oser’) in Jena, Germany, in April 1916, the son of Herman N

Michael Roger Williams was born in London on 30 March 1921. He was the eldest son of Muriel, née Buckley, the daughter of Lord Wrenbury, Justice of Appeal, and Bernard Williams, consultant surgeon to St Thomas's Hospital. He attended Rose Hill Preparatory School in Banstead, followed by Oundle Schoo

Munro Walker-Brash was a consultant general surgeon at Orpington and Sevenoaks hospitals. He was born in London on 15 November 1920, the second son of John Walker-Brash, a general practitioner, and his wife Gloria Lilian née Parker. He was educated privately at Colet Court in Hammersmith and Clivede