This is the illustrated story of the early part of the life of a sick child of a poor divorced mother. After treatment of his Tuberculosis with a new antibiotic he was able to start at the local primary school at the age of eight. From there he won a scholarship to a public school which even paid for the school uniform that his mother could not afford. He decided to become an engineer and studied at Leeds and then Cambridge Universities and then became a lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the University of Surrey. Three years later with a major change of career another scholarship followed, and he studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford Universities with periods in Africa and America.
 
He first qualified as a surgeon, and after training was appointed as a consultant plastic surgeon at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. His training was so different to what a surgeon now undergoes that it is of historical interest. Sport and exploring were also a major part of his early years. He represented the British Universities in two sports and was an Olympic trialist. It has been an interesting life during which he has been awarded as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and of the Order of St John. Scholarship Boy to Engineer, Plastic Surgeon and Sportsman is the first part of his interesting and variable life story. Throughout his life he has worked in four wars and six disasters and has worked or taught in 44 countries and operated in 25 of them. The second part to his story, Plastic Surgery in Wars, Disaster and Civilian Life will be available in February 2023.