[1][2][3] Laver's obituary in the British Medical Journal commented on his 'dynamic energy and capacity for work, his acute inquisitiveness of mind, and his absolute intolerance of shibboleths of medicine'.

[3] Basil Leslie Laver was born 18 December 1894 at Witfoot, Middelburg, Transvaal, South Africa, the third of the three sons of Henry Laver, merchant of Middelburg.

[1][2][3] During World War I he received a commission on 27 February 1915 as second-lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery, and was subsequently adjutant and temporary major.

[1][2][3] Laver returned to Guy's Hospital at the end of World War I, qualified, won the Arthur Durham scholarship and served as surgical registrar and assistant surgical tutor.

[1][2][3][4] Laver died in Northampton on 28 December 1934 and his ashes were buried in Southampton.