William Martin Walker was a consultant ophthalmologist in Birmingham. He was born on 31 October 1919. He qualified from St Andrews University in 1943, completed his house jobs in Dundee and then served as a captain in the RAMC in Italy from 1945 to 1947. Before he was demobilised he gained his first

Desmond Peel Greaves was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at University College and Moorfields Eye hospitals in London. He was born on 14 December 1920 in the West Riding of Yorkshire to Bernard Peel, an optician, and Beatrice Peel. He was educated at High Storrs Grammar School, Sheffield, and then w

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

Gerald Joseph Siegler, or ‘Jo’ as he known to colleagues, was an ENT consultant in Liverpool. He was born in London on 3 January 1921, and studied medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. He held junior posts in Huddersfield, Lancaster, Nuneaton and Birkenhead, before completing his National Service w

John Harold Frank Batstone was born on 25 May 1924 in the Belgian Congo, the son of John a clergyman and his wife, Gwendoline Lilian, née Hurst. After education at Collington Rise School, Bexhill, and Sherborne School, he went to Jesus College, Cambridge, gaining the Rustat Exhibition. He trained in

Mervyn Dunning was a consultant general surgeon in Shrewsbury. He was educated at Hampton Grammar School, London. He initially trained as a dentist at the Royal Dental Hospital, qualifying in 1941. He held junior posts, as a house surgeon and then senior house surgeon in maxillofacial surgery. He t

David Bell was a surgeon at Belfast City Hospital. The son of William George Thompson Bell, a farmer and mill-owner from Cookstown, Northern Ireland, and Emma Jane Bell, he was born on 20 June 1920. A great uncle, cousin and brother were all doctors. From the Rainey Endowed School he went to Queen’s

Bernard Crawford was a plastic surgeon in Sheffield. He was born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, on 30 November 1919. His father, Alfred Edgar Crawford, was a teacher, and his mother, Nellie Cooper, a nurse. He was educated at Rotherham Grammar School and Sheffield University, where his teachers included E

Robert Qualye Crellin, or 'Robin' was a consultant surgeon at King's College Hospital. He was born on 31 May 1927, on the Isle of Man, the son of John Frissel Crellin, a company director, and Eileen Flood Jackson. He went to King William's College on the Isle of Man, and then to St Mary's Hospital M

Sir Henry Yellowlees was Chief Medical Officer for England from 1973 to 1983. He was born on 16 April 1919 in Edinburgh, the son of Sir Henry Yellowlees, a psychiatrist, and Dorothy Davies, a cellist. He was educated at Stowe and University College, Oxford, but deferred his medical training to join

'Tony' Buckle was born in Yorkshire and educated at Holgates Grammar School, York. In 1944 he enlisted in the RAF but the war ended before he completed his training as a pilot. He was released and began his medical career at Guy's Hospital, graduating in 1950. He received the Golding Prize Medal and

Herbert Bernhard Eckstein was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, on 11 July 1926. His father Albert Eckstein was Professor of Paediatrics in Dusseldorf, Hamburg and then in Ankara (Turkey) where his family settled in the early 1930's. His mother, Erna, was the daughter of Professor A Schlossmann, Professo