R.D.C. BRACKENRIDGE served as a medical officer in the RAF, 1942-46 after which he was a Senior Medical Registrar 1949-53. He then became a Consulting Medical Officer to Mercantile and General Re 1959 (recently Swiss Re Life & Health). He was President of the Assurance Medical Society in 1977 and an honorary member of the American Academy of Insurance Medicine in 1995. W. JOHN ELDER served in the medical branch of the RAF, 1955-71. He has been a Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Director of both Cologne Life Reinsurance Company, Connecticut, USA and Transamerica Accidental Life, California, USA retiring in 1995. He was editor of the Journal of Insurance Medicine 1984-91 and President of the Association of Life Insurance Medical Directors of America (ALIMDA) 1990-91, currently consults in insurance medicine.