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#12
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08-14-2009, 10:58 AM
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 My Rank: SERGEANT Poster Rank:1010 Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 683 Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Quoted: 13 Post(s)
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Re: The Faces of World War I
I laughed. I laughed very hard. |
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#16
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08-14-2009, 01:06 PM
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 My Rank: PRIVATE Poster Rank:9626 Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 15 Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Quoted: 0 Post(s)
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Re: The Faces of World War I
why are there long sausage looking skin hanging around some of their faces?? To help regenerate skin cells? Some of the pictures remind me of Jason. Sadly, I bet kids screamed and ran when they saw them on the street. |
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#20
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08-14-2009, 07:47 PM
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 ★ Legacy Member ★ Poster Rank:40 lady Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 37,489 Mentioned: 40 Post(s) Quoted: 3618 Post(s)
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Re: The Faces of World War I
'Without surgery's aid his face might have been unspeakably worse than it is. He has every reason to bless surgery. And yet! in his mirror he is greeted by a gargoyle.' Corporal Ward Muir, Royal Army Medical Corps, 1918 Men suffered terrible injuries in the First World War. Yet some scars could be hidden or disguised and a 'normal' appearance could be reclaimed. However for those with severe facial injuries, this was impossible. Often left unrecognisable to friends and family, their return to civilian life was traumatic. The risk of such injury was high. Surgeon Harold Gillies was appalled by the number of facial wounds he saw in France, many caused by shrapnel from exploding shells. In treating them he became convinced of the benefits of facial surgery and the need for a special hospital to carry out such operations. Back in England, he persuaded the army to establish a purpose-built site. Through his efforts the Queen's Hospital, Sidcup was opened in 1917. Experts in facial injury were drawn to this dedicated facility. These included Archibald McIndoe, who was to become famous in the Second World War, especially for his work on burned Battle of Britain pilots. A new specialism emerged. Using the living skin of a man to help reconstruct his own facial features was not a new technique but at the Queen's Hospital, with its large supply of suitable patients, these surgical procedures were refined and greatly improved. Despite the advances there were limits to what could be achieved. It was also an agonising process. Patients often cut short their treatment rather than undergo a series of painful operations. While the basic elements of a face might be partially restored, for most the disfigurement remained profound and permanent. |
