Paul Hickinbotham was a consultant surgeon in Leicester. He was born in Birmingham on 21 March 1917, the second son of Frederick John Long Hickinbotham, an export merchant and JP, and Gertrude née Ball. He was educated at West House School, Birmingham, and Rugby, and went on to Birmingham to do his

Tom Rowntree was a consultant surgeon in Southampton. He was born at 9, Upper Brook Street, London, W1 on 10 July 1916. His father, Cecil Rowntree, was a consultant surgeon at the Cancer (now Royal Marsden) Hospital, London, and held several other honorary posts in and around the city. His mother wa

Reginald Seymour Lawrie, always known as 'Rex', was a consultant general surgeon to Guy's Hospital from 1948 until 1977. He did much pioneering work in paediatric surgery before it became recognised as a specialty. He also worked at the Evelina Hospital, holding appointments at Sydenham Children's,

John Philip Bentley was a consultant general surgeon at the Connaught, Harrow and Wanstead hospitals. He was born on 5 January 1916 in Bexleyheath, Kent, the son of Roland Cunard Bentley, a chartered secretary, and Margaret Bentley née Budd, the daughter of a medical practitioner. John was the third

Born on 27 December 1914, at Dunoon, Renfrewshire, the son of a Scottish minister, Hugh lived in Naples as a child and went to school in Switzerland. He qualified MRCS LRCP from Westminster Hospital Medical School in 1939 and MB BS (London) in 1940. During the war-time bombing of London he worked at

John Pullan was a senior surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital in London. He was born in Yorkshire on 1 August 1915 and educated at Shrewsbury, where he boxed and rowed. He was a scholar at King's College, Cambridge, and entered St Thomas's Hospital in 1937, qualifying in 1940. He held junior posts and se

Bryan Brooke pioneered the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease, especially that of ulcerative colitis. He was born on 21 February 1915 in Croydon, the son of a numismatist. Following initial schooling at Bradfield College he went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, for which he retai

Aubrey Joseph Wilson, known as 'Joe', was a consultant surgeon at Derby Royal Infirmary and Children's Hospital. He was born on 23 September 1913, the youngest of the two sons of Thomas Wilson, a general practitioner surgeon and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Edith Mary Cr

Noel Kirkman was born in Boothroydon, near Blackpool, on 11 March 1911, the son of William Harold Kirkman, the owner of a small wrought iron works, and Lavinia, née Fereday, one of whose ancestors was Samuel Day Fereday, a general surgeon in Dudley, Worcestershire (1800-1874). He was educated at Wes

Geoffrey Hallett was born at Pyrford, Surrey, on 27 September 1911. His father, Norman Hallett, owned the Wings fleet of cargo ships which regularly travelled between Cardiff and South America. His mother was Annie née Bashford. Geoffrey was educated at Stubbington Prep School and Wellington. He the