Claude Brun was a consultant surgeon in Blackburn. He was born on 23 August 1917 in Mauritius. His father, René Brun, was a bank clerk in Port Louis who was descended from a captain in the Napoleonic navy. His mother, Jeanne Brun, was also of French descent. Claude was the eldest of six children. Hi

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

Benjamin John Fowler was born in 1917 in Peterborough where he attended the King's School before entering Guy's Hospital to qualify in 1941. He was called up for Army service, working as a general duties medical officer with some experience in surgery. While in North Africa he was created Chevalier

John William Gummer, known as 'Peter', was a gastrointestinal surgeon at the Central Middlesex Hospital in London. He was born on 29 December 1918 and studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School. He qualified in 1941. Prior to his appointment as a consultant, he was a house surgeon at

Evan Griffiths was a consultant surgeon at Bridgend Hospitals, South Wales. He was born into West Wales farming stock on 13 December 1916. His father, Edgar Griffiths, owned and ran a grocery business in Llanelli. His mother was Mary Evans. Early schooling was at Llanelli Grammar School, where he di

John Howard Egbert Verdon qualified in 1941 from St Thomas's Hospital in London. He held house appointments at the East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital and the Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Hospital. He was then appointed surgical registrar to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and eventually became senior

Robert Bell was born in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, on 22 November 1917. His father, Robert Duncan Bell, was a farmer, having previously been a missionary to the Ojibway and Chinook Indians. His mother was Violet Lydia Clarke, daughter of an actor-manager from Bilston in Staffordshire, England. Rob

Hughlings Jackson, a distant cousin of the great neurologist, was born on 3 October 1912, the youngest of the five children of William Herbert Jackson, a former master mariner who owned a stevedoring business in London and later worked for the Mission to Seamen. His mother was Beatrice née Walker. F

Wallace Black was born at 14 Park View Road, Finchley on 12 September 1917; his father, James Black was a company director and his mother was Jane Duckworth, whose father was an electrical engineer. Black was educated at Finchley County School and at King's College London, and Westminster Hospital M

Charles Edward Drew, eldest son of Edwin Frank Drew, an accountant, and of Eunice (née Lloyd-Davies) was born in Lambeth on 15 December 1916. He was educated at an elementary school in Stockwell and at Westminster City School and then secured an open scholarship in 1935 to King's College, London, an

William Harry Jayne Weston was born in Liverpool on 28 November 1903 and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby. After graduating in science in 1925 he spent nearly eight years as a schoolmaster at Pangbourne and Windsor. At the age of 30 he took up medicine and qualified at St George's Hospit

Robert Oliver Wheeler studied medicine at King's College, London and qualified MB BS in 1941. He passed the Conjoint Diploma in 1940 and the FRCS ten years later. He was surgical registrar to St Stephen's Hospital, London, and to Horton Hospital, Epsom, before becoming medical officer to Savernake H