The Haileybury Society is saddened to learn of the death of Dr Peter Edward Mayner (Th 52) who has died at the age of 84 on 19th January 2023.

From school boxing to medical school

At Haileybury, Peter represented the school in boxing for three years between 1955 and 1957. Studying Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge before studying medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Medical School in Birmingham, he went on to take various hospital positions before, in 1974, starting a 22-year career as a surgeon on cruise shops operating with the shipping company P&O.

Surprise Falklands call up

In 1992, Peter was on the SS Canberra docked at Naples when it was requisitioned by the MOD for service in the 1982 Falklands conflict; he volunteered to stay on board as the ship became an enormous troop carrier for the task force assembled to retake the islands from the Argentinian forces which had invaded them.

Working alongside military medics, he worked in what was the Canberra’s theatre – now converted into four operating theatres – and made preparations for the inevitable casualties the task force expected. As Peter recalled, “we were the largest blood transfusion unit in the South Atlantic”.

Image of SS Canberra at the Falklands — *Above: the SS Canberra off the Falklands at the end of the conflict; HMS Andromeda is alongside – image in public domain*

Under constant attack

During the British landings at San Carlos, the Canberra was in the thick of the action as it helped land troops over several days. As he recalled in later years, “we were under air attack every half-hour. There would not have been much chance to survive if we had been hit, but we were lucky. We just couldn’t believe how lucky we were”. The medics treated both sides as casualties mounted; some Argentinians even volunteered to give blood.

Peter retired from P&O in 1996 but continued his medical career. As well as being medical adviser to Avery Berkel in Birmingham, he also served on the Board of Shipping in London as an advisor upon seagoing medicine. Often undertaking medicals for shipping personnel, he also served on locum shifts for GP practices when required.

Never forgetting his Falklands experiences, he was an annual attendee at the San Carlos dinner in Portsmouth and on one occasion also returned to the islands with other veterans of the conflict.

A life beyond surgery and the sea

Peter was a lifelong lover of sport in its many guises, playing rugby, cricket, squash and tennis at college and university. In Malvern, where he made his home, he joined Malvern Rugby Club and the Manor Park Tennis Club as well as playing for a local cricket team and the Hadley Bowling Club. He was also a proud supporter of the Friends of the English Spring Orchestra, a collaborator on two books of local history, and a long-term Trustee of ARCOS, a Malvern-based charity.

Hardly surprising given his career, Peter was also a keen swimmer and underwater diver, belonging to the Cambridge Underwater Exploration Society. But he wasn’t bound to the sea; Peter also enjoyed flying, having trained with the University of Birmingham Air Squadron (RAF).

The Haileybury Society extends its deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to Peter’s family and friends at their loss at this difficult time.