Neale, Kerry: facial wounds of the Great War

Neale, Kerry

“Poor devils without noses and jaws”: facial wounds of the Great War: Honest History lecture, Manning Clark House, Canberra, 26 May 2014

The author has completed a Ph D at the Australian Defence Force Academy and works at the Australian War Memorial. The paper

examines the nature of facial wounds during the Great War and outlines some of the medical innovations made in the field of reconstructive facial surgery. Not only did such innovation enable facial wound cases to survive their wounds, it also gave them a chance to reconstruct their lives. I will also, in the spirit of Honest History, discuss some recent representations of Great War disfigured veterans that distort the historical accounts and, in some way, go to explaining why people have shied away from undertaking research in this area until now.

Neale_Honest History MHC paper  The paper contains some confronting images. Paul Daley has written about Kerry Neale’s research. A graphic summarising World War I wounds. More on wounds and their effects, including link to book of photographs by Bryan Adams.

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