Colonel John Watts was the first joint professor of military surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal Army Medical College, a post he held from 1960 to 1964. Watts was born on 13 April 1913 at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, the only child of John Nixon Watts, a solicitor, and the Hono

Howard Mitchell Jamison was born in London on 19 January, 1917, the son of James Jamison, a schoolmaster. He studied at the Sir Walter St John's School and the Regent Street Polytechnic before winning a scholarship to St Bartholomew's Hospital. He qualified MB BS in 1941 and, before joining the Army

Victor Pearse was born on 12 November 1913, the son of Arthur Victor Pearse, of the New Zealand Government Service, and his wife Constance, née Clark. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School and Otago Medical School, graduating in 1941. After junior posts, he joined up. His first posting in 1942