‘Without the Faces of Men’: Facially Disfigured Great War Soldiers of Britain and the Dominions.

In the historiography of both the Great War and military medicine, facial wounds (and subsequent disfigurement) are generally portrayed as the ‘most piteous’ of war wounds. Largely through a misconception that medical treatment was rudimentary at this time and men were left so disfigured they could only lead tragic lives, this portrayal has precluded an encompassing study of facially wounded Great War soldiers. This thesis aims to address this historical imbalance by examining the innovations made in maxillofacial (jaw and face) surgery during the period and investigating the post-war lives of disfigured British and Dominion veterans. Despite being a relatively new specialisation in the Western World, maxillofacial surgery produced unprecedented results during the Great War and the work of the Queen’s Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, in the United Kingdom was at the centre of its development. In August 1917, the hospital opened as the centre for the treatment of British Empire soldiers who had sustained facial wounds. This thesis does not aim to be a comparative history across these countries, but a collected history – drawing together the experiences of men who were united by their wounds but who ultimately coped with their disfigured appearances as individuals. Histories of medicine are often written from the perspective of leading medical men and neglect the experience of the patient. While it does examine the role of the surgeon, throughout this thesis the voice of the patient can be clearly heard. The Queen’s Hospital forms the nexus from which to examine the experiences of facially wounded men from the battlefield, during treatment at the hospital, and on to their post-war lives. In doing so, it becomes apparent that the treatment available was far from rudimentary, and this thesis argues that while some men did struggle in their post-war life, many more found the resilience to surmount the tragedy seemingly inherent in their wounds.