Project Façade: Plastic Surgeries of World War I

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Medicine, Weapons & War on September 1, 2008 at 2:48 pm


The medical discipline of plastic surgery (a reconstructive surgery, not to be confused with cosmetic surgery) has its origins in the horrors of World War I. The massive use of heavy artilleries in the war resulted not only in greater number of deaths, but also of horrific facial injuries.

Artist Paddy Hartley of Project Façade uses photos and surgical notes from The Gillies Archive to create an art exhibition about the birth of plastic surgery, detailing the work of Sir Harold in putting back the lives of the injured servicemen by reconstructing their faces:

The First World War was a war dominated by high explosives and heavy artillery. Battlefield casualties included an unprecedented number with horrific facial injuries – injuries so severe the men were commonly unrecognizable to loved ones and friends. Often unable to see, hear, speak eat or drink, they struggled to re-assimilate back into civilian life. This secondary tragedy – the living unable to "live" – catalyzed Surgeon Sir Harold Gillies to transform the fledgling discipline of plastic surgery based on his unrivalled observation of the profoundly wounded and his ability to push the parameters of the profession beyond all known techniques.

Link: Project Façade | Article on Telegraph – via Look at This (BTW, Happy Birthday to webmaster ILuvNUFC)

Photo: In 1917, gunnery warrant officer Walter Yeo was presumably the first patient treated by Sir Harold Gillies, the "father of plastic surgery," to undergo a new skin graft procedure called a tubed pedicle. More on him here: Link


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7 comments to "Project Façade: Plastic Surgeries of World War I"

  1. Titus
    September 1st, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    Also read: Krieg dem Krieg. (If you're interested in 1920's German pacifism, that is.)

  2. Johnny Cat
    September 1st, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    I'm interested in all things pre-WWII like this. There is definitely a shortage of Spielberg movies on the subject. WWI era was rough, to be sure, and the more I learn about it, the more I understand where my Grandmother's values came from.

  3. jeff d
    September 1st, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    these images have been making the rounds the last couple of days. when i was younger a friend had a book with photos of WWI soldiers with face prostheses and before and after shots of the cavities blown in their faces by shrapnel etc. at that time i was fascinated by the gore. now, maybe because i'm older and have tasted enough of my own mortality, or because i'm just more sensitive i find these profoundly disturbing. i can't help but seeing past the injuries to the fact that most of these guys were handsome young men who probably had sweethearts and mothers waiting for them only to return so difigured. the idea of all that collective pain gives me goosebumps.

  4. Lasse
    September 2nd, 2008 at 5:15 am

    I read "Krieg dem Kriege" when i was ten. I have been a pacifist ever since.

  5. ILuvNUFC
    September 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm

    Thanks. :)

  6. Jimbo
    September 4th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    Is that you kee mo sabi?

  7. Noelegy
    September 6th, 2008 at 1:49 am

    That was fascinating. The eyes really got to me: pain-dazed eyes, hopeful eyes. Also, one young man who still had acne.


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