Peter McLaughlin was born in 1916, in Brisbane, [a home birth as he pointedly mentioned in his memoirs] went to Brisbane Grammar school, enrolled in first year Medicine in Brisbane in 1934, and then had to go to Sydney to complete his medical course-the normal in those days.

He graduated with Honours, then went to RPAH as a resident,[in the days of Sir Benjamin Eadie] in 1939 , then a term with the gynaecologists at KG5 [Schlink, Maguire, Chapman and Frazer]. He then joined the RAAF, and saw service at Richmond, Bundaberg, Darwin, [during the air raids] then back to Sydney, returned to Darwin, then the Middle East, until demobilisation in 1945

Following more training at Crown St. he entered general practice in Merewether, and describes in detail the way general "lodge practice” was run in those days. His memoirs contain an outline of all the GP practices in Newcastle at that time, describes the beginnings of specialist practice, and his early experiences with the legendary Sammy Gardner, the story of Alec Ostinga and the Bellingen Quads.

He covers the difficult road to Specialist practice, his time at Crown St with the legendary Reg. Hamlin, his trip by sea to London to sit his Membership exam, the adventures in London with the best Surgeons of the day , his friendship with Bill MacBride [who later picked up the link between thalidomide and birth defects]]and then his fascinating journey through the Old Europe , and his look in at the USA to see how the top USA surgeons did things provides an unique view of the world of Medicine at that time.

Back in Merewether, he stayed in GP work as well until 1960, and then did specialist practice until retirement in 1988 .He outlines in detail the way conservative obstetric practice was carried out in those years after the war, the relationship with the GPs who did most of the deliveries early on, the principles he learnt at Crown St., and finally the coming of the medical school.

This record of the life work of a gentle, modest man, who was never known to make a critical comment about a colleague, and who was respected and loved by everyone, should be compulsory reading for anyone at the threshold of a medical career we can all learn from his outstanding career.