Norman Rothnie was a greatly respected consultant general surgeon with a major interest in peripheral vascular and also in thyroid surgery. He worked for over 30 years at the Royal Berkshire Hospital and made many contributions in peripheral vascular surgery. A tall man who 'never looked down' on an

James Keith Ross was a leading cardiac surgeon, and one of the team that performed the first cardiac transplant in Britain. He was born in London on 9 May 1927. His father, Sir James Paterson Ross, was later to become professor of surgery at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Surgeon to the Royal Household

William John Dickson Bradfield, or ‘Bill’, was a consultant surgeon at Kingston Hospital in Surrey. He was born in London on 23 June 1924, the only son and second child of John Ernest Bradfield, a businessman, and Marjorie Elizabeth née Dickson, the daughter of a silk merchant. Bill was educated at

Pamela Mary Spencer née Bacon was a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Whittington Hospital, London. She was born in London, in Dulwich, the daughter of Leonard Guy Bacon, a civil servant who had served as a bomber pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War, and Edith M

Bertram Owen-Smith, or 'Owen' as he was known, was a plastic surgeon in the UK and later in Salisbury, Rhodesia. A member of the 'Guinea Pig Club', the group of injured Second World War airmen treated by the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, he made the unusual transition from patien

Neil MacDonald was a consultant surgeon at the Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. He was born on 29 October 1927 in Suffolk, the son of E A MacDonald. He was educated at Ipswich Grammar School and Epsom College, from which he won a scholarship in science to the London Hospital Medical College in 1945

Sir John Cecil Nicholson Wakeley was a consultant general surgeon in Cheshire. He was born in London on 27 August 1926, the first of three boys of Cecil Pembrey Grey Wakeley and Elizabeth Muriel Wakeley née Nicholson-Smith. At the time of John's birth, his father was a surgeon and on the staff at Ki

Frank Groves Ellis was a renal transplant and vascular surgeon at Guy's Hospital. He was born on 12 September 1925 into a long-standing farming family. After grammar school, he entered Guy's medical school in 1943, qualifying in 1949. He was an anatomy demonstrator in 1952. He gained a consultant p

George Anthony Lawrence, known as 'Tony', was a consultant general surgeon in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he practised for 35 years. He served as a coroner and from 1984 to 1993 was chief of staff of the Highland View Regional Hospital and was also medical examiner for Cumberland C

Gaston Benett was born on 12 November 1922 in Poudre D'Or, Mauritius, the son of Raymond Benett, a hospital pharmacist, and his wife, Suzanne, née Davis, a teacher. He attended the Royal College in Mauritius from where he won a scholarship to Cambridge for his pre-clinical studies. He then entere

Louis René De Jode was born on 29 November 1926 in East Ham, London. He was the son of Louis Guillaume De Jode and Germaine, née Tavernier, who left Belgium during the first world war. His father set up practice in the East End, where he became a much loved and respected family doctor. Louis always

John Bridger was a consultant general surgeon in Stafford. Born on 2 September 1926, John grew up in Enfield, north London, where his father, George Bridger, was the superintendent of parks. His mother was Violet Millicent Bridger née Lee. He gained a scholarship to Enfield Grammar School and later,