Loneliest Tommies

The "loneliest Tommies" were British soldiers who suffered catastrophic facial disfigurements during World War I.[1] Named after the common British soldier slang "Tommy", these veterans faced profound social isolation. When venturing out in public, they sat on bright blue benches so civilians could avoid looking at them.[2]

In 1915, Harold Gillies, a New Zealand born surgeon working in England, established a special ward for facial wounds at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot. In 1916 Gillies had established The Queen’s Hospital at Frognal House for facial reconstruction.[2][3][4][5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Davies, Dave (July 20, 2022). "With no textbooks or antibiotics, this WWI surgeon pioneered facial reconstruction". NPR.
  2. 1 2 "Lest We Forget: The Birth of Facial Aesthetics". Define Clinic.
  3. ↑ "Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo – One of the first people to undergo Plastic Surgery". The Yeo Society. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Modjeska, Drusilla (2014-07-11). "'Horror of war without its glory'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-09-14.
  5. ↑ "Who Was the Father of Modern Plastic Surgery?". Applied Sciences from Technology Networks. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
  6. ↑ "JAMA Otolaryngology". Applied Sciences from Technology Networks. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
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