Gustav Siegmund ‘Gus’ Plaut was a consultant surgeon at Tooting, London. He was born on 2 September 1921 to Ellen Warburg and Theodor Plaut in Hamburg, both from eminent Jewish banking families. His father was dismissed by the Nazis, and took the post of professor of economics at Hull University, wh

Richard Pryer was born on 20 September 1924. After education at St Peter's School, York, he entered the London Hospital and graduated in 1947. After serving as house surgeon at the London Hospital he was appointed resident surgical officer at Tindal General Hospital, Aylesbury, in 1948. The followin

Betty Underhill was born on 22 December 1908, the only child of William Wood and Elizabeth Roberts, both head teachers. She was educated at North London Collegiate School and Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a first class honours degree in zoology. She remained at Oxford doing research i

Paul Kirton Pybus was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and St Mary's Hospital, qualifying in 1947. After house appointments at St Mary's and at the Royal Marsden, he became surgical registrar at St Alban's City Hospital. After gaining his Fellowship in 1955, he was appointed surgical registr

Paul Seargeant was the only child of an automobile engineer, Thomas William Seargeant, and May Lilian née Sanders. He was born in Bristol on 25 February 1924. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Bristol University, where he won gold medals in medicine and surgery, and the Royal Hospital go

Norman Winstone was a consultant surgeon at Selly Oak, Birmingham. He was born in Gidea Park, Essex, on 8 February 1924, the son of Herbert Charles Winstone, a property manager, and Kate née Robinson, a policeman's daughter. He was educated at Gidea Park College and Romford Royal Liberty School, bef

Michael Reilly was born in Sheringham, Norfolk, on 30 August 1913, several weeks post-mature. This procrastination was to be a feature of his life. There was a suggestion that he should be christened 'Fabius', after the great Roman general Fabius Maximus Cunctator, but he was saddled with the family

Jeremiah Burke was born at Douglas, Cork, on 19 February 1913 the son of Jeremiah Burke, a farmer and his mother was Ellen O'Reagan, the daughter of a farmer. He was educated at Christian College, Cork, and at University College, Cork (National University of Ireland), where he gained the Hutchinson