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My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

Article about: Hey guys, here are numerous pictures of my great grandfather during the facial reconstruction (c.1920)mwhen his chin was blown off during WW1. I understand that these photos are of historica

  1. #1

    Default My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Hey guys, here are numerous pictures of my great grandfather during the facial reconstruction (c.1920)mwhen his chin was blown off during WW1. I understand that these photos are of historical and medical importance which is why i have put a watermark over the tops of them. Anyway i also have his discharge papers and my mum has also said that she also has his medals somewhere Anyway i was just wondering if i can take my research further... perhaps a photo of him in uniform (or is this just wishful thinking) I have also looked on the project facade website and do any of you guys know how many WW1 soldiers were used in pioneering plastic surgery?
    Thanks, Glen.
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?   My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  

    My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?   My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  

    My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?   My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  

    My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?   My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  

    My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?   My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  

    My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  

  2. #2

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Thanks for sharing this, a sober reminder of the real face of war.

    I doubt that an exact or near-exact figure for the soldiers that underwent reconstructive surgery is available; the number was certainly vast. While plastic/reconstroctive surgery had been in existence for literally centuries before, the WW I era brought it to a wholly new level with many major advances and new inventions.

    One example for these inventions is seen in the photographs: The tube-like thing on your great-grandfather's neck and later chin is called a tube pedicle or walking-stalk skin flap.
    Developed by Sir Harold Gilliies during WW1, this is a reconstructive technique in which the skin and soft tissue to be used for the flap is formed into a tubular pedicle and moved from the source to the target site by anchoring at both ends, periodically severing one end and anchoring it closer to the flap target site.
    Last edited by HPL2008; 04-15-2012 at 07:03 PM.

  3. #3

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Hi thank you for the additional information, as I said earlier I had a look on the project facade website and i thought that there was a lack of photographically evidence of the development of the patients surgery. I have just been looking through google images etc and i can only find a dozen of so photographic evidence of these soldiers with reconstructed faces.
    Thanks, Glen.

  4. #4

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Hi Glen, thanks for posting tese.

    I don't have time now, as I need to leave for work.

    But I will see what I can find tonight.

    Cheers, Ade.
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  5. #5
    kc1
    kc1 is offline
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    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Where did you get the photos? or more importantly where did he?
    There should be a pension record for your grand dad at the National Archives at Kew, this may be available on Ancestry who have done a 'free' 2 week trial thing in the past. You may also find his enlistment papers there as well.
    I have seen photos like these in various books in the past but usually of numerous individuals not so many of the same person.
    There was also a French film broadcast on one of the major channels, fictional, about some individuals and there stories from a whole ward just of facial injuries. I have also seen photos of the fitting of a mask and the covering up of the join using cosmetics as the kind of treatment your grand dad got was still new and relatively rare.

  6. #6

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    These photos are amazing and yet a stark reminder of the horrors of war. Bless your grandpa, as he served country and was gravely wounded! I will keep him in my prayers tonight!

  7. #7

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Quote by HPL2008 View Post
    Thanks for sharing this, a sober reminder of the real face of war.

    I doubt that an exact or near-exact figure for the soldiers that underwent reconstructive surgery is available; the number was certainly vast. While plastic/reconstroctive surgery had been in existence for literally centuries before, the WW I era brought it to a wholly new level with many major advances and new inventions.

    One example for these inventions is seen in the photographs: The tube-like thing on your great-grandfather's neck and later chin is called a tube pedicle or walking-stalk skin flap.
    Developed by Sir Harold Gilliies during WW1, this is a reconstructive technique in which the skin and soft tissue to be used for the flap is formed into a tubular pedicle and moved from the source to the target site by anchoring at both ends, periodically severing one end and anchoring it closer to the flap target site.
    What don't you know?

    Thanks for the photos, which are a stark contrast to the pre-war portraits of cheerful, healthy, and naive soldiers that one often finds.

  8. #8

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    Hi Glen, sadly his service record no longer exists. But this is his Medal Card index entry.

    It gives:

    His awards
    Service number (New Info for you)
    Date he landed in France (New info for you)

    The Suffolk Regiment in 1914-1918

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers, Ade.
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?  
    Had good advice? Saved money? Why not become a Gold Club Member, just hit the green "Join WRF Club" tab at the top of the page and help support the forum!

  9. #9

    Default Re: My Great Grandfather, can anybody help me with additional research?

    @ Kc1, Hi these photos were just handed down in the family and have been forgotten until now. I have no idea how he got them etc

    "These photos are amazing and yet a stark reminder of the horrors of war. Bless your grandpa, as he served country and was gravely wounded! I will keep him in my prayers tonight!"
    Thank you very much for the kind words and i feel very proud!

    Thank you very much Ade for your hard work and I am very grateful for this additional information. I will have to see if my mum can find any additional documents etc. and also his medals which she said she has seen recently (boxed) but cannot seem to find them anywhere
    Thanks, Glen.

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