Sculptor and Surgeon

How they Collaborate at the 3rd L.G.H. - a Note by the C.O.

A new department has been formed at the 3rd L.G.H., which for the first time brings the sculptor's art to the assistance of the surgeon. For years artificial limbs have been provided by the Government for men who need them, and now, thanks to the experiment carried out here with such successful results, the Director-General, sir Alfred Keogh, has given orders that men who have suffered such injuries to their faces as to cause deformity, are to be transferred to our new department under Derwent Wood, to fit them with masks to cover the injured part.

The custom of the hospital to use men for the work in which they are most skilled placed Sgt. Derwent Wood in charge of our splint moulding department, and while at that work he felt he could help out men whose faces had been injured. Two very striking cases in hospital at the time were Tpr. E. and Sgt. F. Tpr. E. had a severe injury to his face, which resulted in the loss of his nose and the opening up of the nasal cavity from the side. After the surgeons had done their best for him by plastic operation the patient was still in such a condition that it was not possible for him to follow his former occupation of a cab driver. Derwent Wood has fitted him with an artificial nose and moustache so successfully that he has resumed his old job, and at a very short distance it is impossible to notice the injury. Sgt. F. had a more extensive injury, resulting in the loss of one eye and cheek. The process of repair has been more complicated in this case, and called for the sculptor's art in building up in plasticine the side of the face so as to get the plate to match the other side of the face. An artificial eye is carried in the mask, and this man will be able to walk about the world without calling for comment. The technical process is described in the Royal Army Medical Journal, and, for those interested, photographs are published in the article.

In time no doubt a big department will grow up for dealing with these cases, just as Roehampton now deals with the limbs. When the cases were brought to his notice, the Director-General at once gave orders for this department (which had been financed by the Benevolent Fund) to be put on the proper basis. Derwent Wood has been commissioned and attached here for duty, and the expenses of the department will be borne by the Government. The soldier is by nature independent, and the men who had the pluck to throw up their jobs and go to the help of the country are not the men who will wish to exist on pensions granted by the Government; they will prefer to resume their former tasks when possible. The formation of this new department will, I am sure, make this possible for many. In addition to the practical side is the aesthetic side, and a properly modelled portion of face carrying an artificial eye to match the remaining eye will be a great advance on the old-fashioned vulcanite shield.

In due course there will be developments of this scheme, which will be more fittingly described in professional journals, but the history of the beginning of the department will interest those who live in, and have been in, the 3rd L.G.H.