This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/05/wartime-surgeon-archibald-mcindoe-honoured
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| War surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe and his 'Guinea Pigs' honoured | War surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe and his 'Guinea Pigs' honoured |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| The design for a unique memorial honouring the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, the hundreds of second world war air crew whom he rescued from despair, and the town of East Grinstead that was a crucial part of their rehabilitation, will be unveiled in the town on Friday. | The design for a unique memorial honouring the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, the hundreds of second world war air crew whom he rescued from despair, and the town of East Grinstead that was a crucial part of their rehabilitation, will be unveiled in the town on Friday. |
| The project has been acutely personal for its sculptor, Martin Jennings. | The project has been acutely personal for its sculptor, Martin Jennings. |
| Unknown to the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation when it commissioned the memorial, Jennings' own father, Michael, was one of those treated by McIndoe, who had to invent new surgical techniques to rebuild faces left unrecognisable by burns. | Unknown to the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation when it commissioned the memorial, Jennings' own father, Michael, was one of those treated by McIndoe, who had to invent new surgical techniques to rebuild faces left unrecognisable by burns. |
| The maquette shows one of the "Guinea Pigs", as they became known, a badly burned airman looking upwards to the skies where he will never fly again, and towards McIndoe, whose hands are placed reassuringly on his shoulders. East Grinstead's role as "the town that did not stare" will be celebrated in the inscription on the base. | The maquette shows one of the "Guinea Pigs", as they became known, a badly burned airman looking upwards to the skies where he will never fly again, and towards McIndoe, whose hands are placed reassuringly on his shoulders. East Grinstead's role as "the town that did not stare" will be celebrated in the inscription on the base. |
| McIndoe lived and worked in the town from 1939 until his death aged 59 in 1960. The plan for the £170,000, two-metre bronze sculpture has the support of his family, local businesses, the hospital where he was based, the local authority and local MP Nicholas Soames. | McIndoe lived and worked in the town from 1939 until his death aged 59 in 1960. The plan for the £170,000, two-metre bronze sculpture has the support of his family, local businesses, the hospital where he was based, the local authority and local MP Nicholas Soames. |
| "We are striving not only to recognise McIndoe's wonderful achievements but also to install a work of art which will raise the profile of East Grinstead and make local people proud," Jacquie Pinney, chief executive of the foundation, said. | "We are striving not only to recognise McIndoe's wonderful achievements but also to install a work of art which will raise the profile of East Grinstead and make local people proud," Jacquie Pinney, chief executive of the foundation, said. |
| At the outbreak of the war the government knew there would be a stream of military burns victims. The Queen Victoria cottage hospital on the outskirts of the West Sussex town – still a centre of excellence for plastic surgery and burns victims, and also home to the foundation that continues his research – was hastily expanded and the New Zealand-born surgeon placed in charge. | At the outbreak of the war the government knew there would be a stream of military burns victims. The Queen Victoria cottage hospital on the outskirts of the West Sussex town – still a centre of excellence for plastic surgery and burns victims, and also home to the foundation that continues his research – was hastily expanded and the New Zealand-born surgeon placed in charge. |
| McIndoe insisted his patients go out and literally face the world: the result was a procession of young men in uniform, faces covered in tramlines of stitches or swathed in bandages, turning up at pubs, cinemas and dances in the town. Many of them married local women. | McIndoe insisted his patients go out and literally face the world: the result was a procession of young men in uniform, faces covered in tramlines of stitches or swathed in bandages, turning up at pubs, cinemas and dances in the town. Many of them married local women. |
| The Guinea Pig Club still meets at the hospital, their name based on McIndoe's cheerful admission that they were guinea pigs for his techniques of skin grafting and repair. The mutual support and drinking society was ruled by a macabre humour which gave the job of secretary to Bill "Fingers" Foxley, because he had none left and would therefore be unable to take tedious minutes of meetings. | The Guinea Pig Club still meets at the hospital, their name based on McIndoe's cheerful admission that they were guinea pigs for his techniques of skin grafting and repair. The mutual support and drinking society was ruled by a macabre humour which gave the job of secretary to Bill "Fingers" Foxley, because he had none left and would therefore be unable to take tedious minutes of meetings. |
| The young airman in the maquette has only stumps of fingers, a feature of many burns injuries, which Jennings vividly recalls from his own father. | The young airman in the maquette has only stumps of fingers, a feature of many burns injuries, which Jennings vividly recalls from his own father. |
| Most of McIndoe's patients were air crew, but he also scoured other hospitals for victims he could help, which is how he found tank commander Michael Jennings, his face mutilated from burns sustained when he went back into a blazing vehicle to get medication for injured crew. | Most of McIndoe's patients were air crew, but he also scoured other hospitals for victims he could help, which is how he found tank commander Michael Jennings, his face mutilated from burns sustained when he went back into a blazing vehicle to get medication for injured crew. |
| Jennings explains of the design: "Many of McIndoe's patients suffered terrible injuries to their hands and main en griffe [claw hands] frequently resulted. After his wartime burns, my own father's hands were fixed in a claw shape for the remainder of his adult life. I can remember when growing up how tentatively he sometimes used to hold them and how he used to stretch them when they ached. This is something I want to record in that one small part of the statue." | Jennings explains of the design: "Many of McIndoe's patients suffered terrible injuries to their hands and main en griffe [claw hands] frequently resulted. After his wartime burns, my own father's hands were fixed in a claw shape for the remainder of his adult life. I can remember when growing up how tentatively he sometimes used to hold them and how he used to stretch them when they ached. This is something I want to record in that one small part of the statue." |
| "McIndoe's hands are on the younger man's shoulders, suggesting the communication of his extraordinary confidence — his patients always refer in their memories of him to his absolute certainty that they would go on to lead productive lives despite the traumas they'd suffered." | "McIndoe's hands are on the younger man's shoulders, suggesting the communication of his extraordinary confidence — his patients always refer in their memories of him to his absolute certainty that they would go on to lead productive lives despite the traumas they'd suffered." |
| Michael Jennings was convinced his active life was over when McIndoe first found him. After treatment he became a teacher and then a school head, and the sculptor is one of his 11 children. | Michael Jennings was convinced his active life was over when McIndoe first found him. After treatment he became a teacher and then a school head, and the sculptor is one of his 11 children. |
| The statue will be encircled by a stone bench, and Martin Jennings sees the people who will sit on it as completing the design. "It seems to me important that this monument should be seen not just a tribute to a great man, but to his heroic patients as well and to the community that did so much to support them." | The statue will be encircled by a stone bench, and Martin Jennings sees the people who will sit on it as completing the design. "It seems to me important that this monument should be seen not just a tribute to a great man, but to his heroic patients as well and to the community that did so much to support them." |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. |