Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:03 AM Images show how soldiers seriously injured in WWI had faces transformed by ... trends now
They were men with facial injuries so severe they were slapped with labels that simply read 'GOK' – God Only Knows.
For these soldiers, who had been wounded in the horrendous fighting of the First World War, hope of any sort of normal life was scant.
But pioneering surgeon Sir Harold Gillies offered an olive branch that transformed the prospects of dozens of disfigured young men who fell under his care.
Now, a new book by historian Dr Lindsey Harris explores the work of Gillies, who is widely regarded as being the 'grandfather' of plastic surgery.
Stunning images reveal how the appearances of men who had horrendous wounds – many to their noses and mouths – were transformed with Gillies's unprecedented techniques.
One soldier, Sergeant Sidney Beldam, had a large portion of his nose torn off by a piece of shrapnel – so that his upper lip was permanently lifted in a snarl.
After having nearly 40 operations under Gillies, during which a flap of healthy tissue was sutured in place to fill out the missing parts of his cheek and nose, Beldam went on to marry the love of his life – a pianist who had visited the wounded in hospital.
They were men with facial injuries so severe they were slapped with labels that simply read 'GOK' – God Only Knows. Above: How Sergeant Sidney Beldam's face was transformed by pioneering surgeon Sir Harold Gillies
Stunning images reveal how men who had horrendous wounds – many to their noses and mouths – were transformed with Gillies's unprecedented techniques
The combatants in the First World War utilised unprecedented advances in weaponry, with machine guns, shells and mortar bombs doing extreme damage to their victims.
Whilst in previous conflicts disfiguring injuries had been rare, in the trenches of France and Belgium they were extremely common.
Men had their noses blown off, their jaws shattered, their skulls broken and sometimes their entire faces destroyed.
One doctor, Ward Muir, who worked at a hospital in Wandsworth in London, described men with wounds to their faces as 'broken gargoyles'.
He feared that his own facial expression when treating the disfigured may gave away his own feelings – that they were 'hideous'.
Dr Fitzharris's new book, The Facemaker, explores the work of Gillies and the lives of the men he treated.
A new book by historian Dr Lindsey Harris explores the work of Gillies, who is widely regarded as being the 'grandfather' of plastic surgery. Above: Gillies during his time serving in the First World War, and right, in 1951
This series of six images, taken between the end of May 1918 and March the following year, shows the transformation in a soldier who suffered severe injuries to his left cheek and mouth
A soldier is seen above left midway through his treatment under Gillies after suffering a severe injury to his nose. Right: The young man after his nose has been reconstructed
A soldier is seen with horrendous injuries to his neck and chin in April 1918, before Gillies's surgery transformed his injuries. In December 1918, only much smaller scars remain
One patient Gillies treated, Private 'Big Bob' Seymour, went on to become his private secretary after being delighted with the new nose he had built for him using one of his pioneering techniques. Above: Seymour is seen in various stages of his treatment
This soldier is seen initially with a severely disfigured mouth. By October 1918, his mouth and cheek had largely been restored
The surgeon, from New Zealand, was an ear, nose and throat specialist who
