The Reconstruction of Warriors: Archibald McIndoe, the Royal Air Force and the Guinea Pig Club by E. R. Mayhew

Author:E. R. Mayhew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / General
ISBN: 9781844687688
Publisher: Frontline Books
Published: 2011-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

The new wing cost $80,000 Canadian and, due to some delays in procuring building materials, took a year to complete. On an inspection visit the chair of the Ministry of Health’s finance and building committee noted that it had 50 beds, nine of which were segregated for infectious cases, two saline baths and was, ‘beautifully equipped, most of this equipment having come from Canada.’13 The staff establishment was duly increased from seven to 51, including medical clerks, lab assistants and chefs (a key part of any maxillo-facial team as great care was required in preparing meals for men with shattered jaws and facial burns).

Tilley ran the Canadian wing along exactly the same lines as McIndoe at Ward III, sharing the New Zealander’s convictions about the very particular nature of care required by such casualties, and the need for his most personal attention (nurses in the Canadian Wing remembered how he would go up to the hospital at 11 p.m. on his bicycle from his digs above the Whitehall pub to visit men he had operated on early in the day). This aspect of treatment at the Canadian Wing was considered so important that it received due and unique attention in the pages of the official history:

‘The work at East Grinstead ran the gamut of the field of plastic surgery. In addition to the surgical work, the staff gave considerable thought and effort to the psychological aspect of the treatment of severely burned and deformed personnel. The patient’s mental attitude was closely watched. To combat the lowering of morale, to which so many of these patients were prone, the staff discussed a patient’s case with him in order that he might adopt a more objective attitude towards his disability, and directed attention to making the patient’s physical and social environment as agreeable as possible. The latter point was thought especially important.

A cheerful outlook was regarded of paramount importance in leading the patient to a realisation that he need not become a recluse, and giving him the courage to meet the general public once again. Efforts were made to reduce military discipline to a minimum and to provide the comforts of home… So successful was the work of the staff from both a surgical and psychological point of view that approximately 80 per cent of the aircrew patients recovered sufficiently to return to flying duties.’14

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