Occupational health doctor who studied the transition of young people from school to industry
Martin Herford's life was informed by his Quaker beliefs. After qualifying he went to work with children suffering from starvation as a result of the Spanish civil war. Later he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in Greece, north Africa, and Sicily. In the final year of the second world war, while commanding a field ambulance, he was taken prisoner after crossing the Rhine to treat wounded airborne troops who had landed behind enemy lines. He negotiated to establish a British military hospital in an old barracks near Arnhem. After the serious cases had been evacuated, he escaped by swimming the Rhine to bring the names of all the wounded British to the allies. He went on to organise medical services at Belsen.
After the war he studied occupational medicine in the United States. On his return he worked as an appointed factory doctor in Slough. He studied both the physical and psychological aspects of school leavers starting work in a factory and realised how little effort was made to enable them to choose work appropriate to their intelligence and talents. Martin described his pioneering approach to the transition of young people from school to industry in his book Youth at Work in 1957.
Predeceased by his wife, Mary, he leaves three daughters and nine grandchildren.
Martin Edward Meakin Herford, former appointed factory doctor Slough (b Geneva 1909; q Bristol 1937; DSO, MBE, MC, MD, DPH), d 14 July 2002. 
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