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• Harold Gillies


  A New Zealand doctor who joined the British army as a surgeon during World War One
• Gillies' work


  1. Initially worked on the front line

  2. In 1917 set up a ward at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, in London to treat patients with facial injuries
• Gillies


  • Pioneered new skin graft techniques
  • Moved a patch of skin on the face, called a pedicle, leaving the veins attached so it still had a blood supply and could successfully be attached to a different part of the face
• Francis Derwent Wood


  A sculptor who worked in hospitals in England treating injured soldiers
• Francis Derwent Wood


  • Designed and made lifelike facial masks for soldiers who had suffered severe facial injuries
  • This helped them to regain confidence, supported their mental health and aided their reintegration into normal life
• New treatments during World War One

  • Blood transfusions
  • X-rays
  • Amputation and the use of prosthetic limbs
• Blood transfusions


  Since Karl Landsteiner had discovered blood groups in 1901, blood transfusions had been possible, but blood could not be stored. During World War One, sodium citrate was added to packages of blood, stopping it from clotting straight away and allowing it to be stored for a short period of time.
• 1. rays


  Marie Curie and her husband Pierre's scientific research was crucial in the development of X-rays for use in surgery. During World War One, mobile X-ray units were available, and Marie Curie played a vital role in getting 200 X-ray units into field hospitals along with 20 mobile X-ray vehicles, which the French troops nicknamed 'petites Curies'.
• Amputation and the use of prosthetic limbs

  The nature of injuries suffered in World War One meant thousands of soldiers had limbs amputated. New and more sophisticated artificial - prosthetic - limbs were designed, including a lighter and easier to manoeuvre metal prosthetic leg made by a company in London that made industrial and electric tools.
• James Edward Hanger


  An amputee during the American Civil War who, using his engineering experience, designed a new prosthetic limb that was able to bend at the knee and the ankle and was better fitting. He later travelled to Europe to observe the effects of trench warfare to design better prosthetics, and his company received contracts with both England and France during and after World War One to supply artificial limbs to Allied soldiers.