Mcindoe's Revolutionising Treatment Regime
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McIndoe’s Revolutionising Treatment Regime How an experimental treatment regime contributed to injured soldiers’ rehabilitation after the Battle of Britain Magnus Aune Master’s Dissertation in History Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History Faculty of Humanities The University of Oslo Spring 2018 ii McIndoe’s Revolutionising Treatment Regime How an experimental treatment regime contributed to injured soldiers’ rehabilitation after the Battle of Britain Acrylic on Canvas – Ragnhild Aune © 2018 The painting is inspired by Fighter Pilot Geoffrey Page’s memory of crashing his aeroplane during the Battle of Britain, 1940: “You’re screaming with fear […] the thing is happening so quickly, if you don’t get out within a few seconds, you’re dead. You can see your hands burning in front of you. The life is just going out of you.” iii © Magnus Aune 2018 McIndoe’s Revolutionising Treatment Regime Magnus Aune http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, The University of Oslo iv Abstract The birth of the Guinea Pig Club took place in Ward III at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, in 1941. It was created as a drinking club by injured soldiers, as a way to pass the time between operations, but it turned out to fulfil much more than its original and initial purpose. The Club was created by pilots from the Royal Air Force who suffered from burns after clashes between their aircrafts and the Luftwaffe’s aircrafts during the Battle of Britain, and they all underwent reconstructive surgery from the famous plastic surgeon Archi- bald Hector McIndoe. Since their surgical procedures were considered to be experimental, the soldiers ended up calling themselves McIndoe’s Guinea Pigs, which gave the Club its name. The Guinea Pig Club was kept alive after 1945, despite the intended plan of terminating it after the war, and the Club became an important asset for its members, in terms of financial and social support. The staff at Queen Victoria Hospital saw the Club as an essential element in the Guinea Pigs’ rehabilitation process, and the Guinea Pig Club managed to stay in touch with its members after the Second World War through their club magazine and their annual gatherings. This thesis explores the rehabilitation process of the pilots who fought during the Battle of Britain, and reveals how McIndoe’s treatment regime contributed to the ‘Guinea Pigs’ avoid- ance and repression of traumatic memories during and after the Second World War through the following thesis question: How did the early members of the Guinea Pig Club work towards their rehabilitation, and who contributed to their rehabilitation? This will be discussed by look- ing at the Club itself, at McIndoe’s treatment regime, and by analysing different approaches to rehabilitation. Through different coping mechanisms, the early members of the Guinea Pig Club had to overcome stigmatising stereotypes on their way towards rehabilitation. What kind of approaches to rehabilitation can we see here, and how did the pilots manage to accept them- selves after their injuries? There are elements and methods in the ‘Guinea Pigs’ treatment that, in fact, have been given too much credit in terms of how it contributed to their mental rehabil- itation. By understanding the pilots’ rehabilitation process, related to the Club’s support and their own effort to become fully rehabilitated, we are able to see how much support from a drinking club and comrades mattered to someone who suffered from severe physical and mental trauma. v vi Acknowledgements To research the Guinea Pig Club and Archibald McIndoe has been an exciting and rewarding experience, and many people have encouraged me on the way. I would like to thank Associate Professor Kim Christian Priemel at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History for his important input and advise on this project, through meetings, thorough readings, and guidance since the Spring of 2017. Your critical feedback on the drafts have been invaluable to this project. I would also like to thank the Department for supporting my research trip to London and East Grinstead financially. I would like to extend my gratitude to the East Grinstead Museum for allowing me to use your facilities. Thanks to Bob Marchant, Honorary Secretary of the Guinea Pig Club and Trustee to the Museum, for insightful conversations and patiently answering my questions. Thanks to Catherine Baldery, Museum Coordinator, for being outmost welcoming and helpful, and for numerous cups of Earl Grey. Furthermore, I would like to thank Kristin, Jenny and Guy for proofreading and giving valuable comments and feedback on this project. Thank you so much for setting aside the time. Finally, I would like to thank my family for support, and especially Ragnhild’s visual interpre- tation of the words of Geoffrey Page which can be seen on the second cover page of this thesis. Thank you. I would also like to thank my friends and fellow students at the Faculty of Educa- tional Sciences for both insightful and trivial conversations throughout the many hours spent in the study room at Helga Eng’s House. Thanks to Jade for support and for keeping me grounded. Magnus Aune, May 2018 vii viii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... vii Abbreviations and Glossary ................................................................................................................. xi 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introducing the Guinea Pigs ................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Sources and Historiography ................................................................................................. 4 1.2.1. The East Grinstead Museum ........................................................................................ 4 1.2.2. Physical and Mental Rehabilitation ............................................................................. 5 1.2.3. Veteran Care .................................................................................................................. 7 1.2.4. The Guinea Pig Club ..................................................................................................... 8 1.2.5. Archibald Hector McIndoe ......................................................................................... 11 1.3. Theory and Methodology .................................................................................................... 13 1.3.1. Using Memories as Historical Narratives .................................................................. 13 1.3.2. Theoretical Limitations ............................................................................................... 16 1.4. Outline .................................................................................................................................. 18 2. The Guinea Pig Club and Archibald Hector McIndoe ............................................................ 19 2.1. The Birth of Plastic Surgery and the Treatment of Burns .............................................. 19 2.2. The Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead .................................................................. 22 2.3. The Guinea Pig Club ........................................................................................................... 23 2.4. The Guinea Pig, the Goldfish, and the Rooksdown Clubs ............................................... 28 2.5. Archibald Hector McIndoe ................................................................................................. 31 3. “The Few” in the Guinea Pig Club ............................................................................................ 40 3.1. “The Few” ............................................................................................................................ 40 3.2. Individual cases: Gleave, Page, and Hillary ...................................................................... 43 4. Approaches to Rehabilitation ..................................................................................................... 49 4.1. The Scientific Approach to Rehabilitation ........................................................................ 49 ix 4.2. The Importance of Self-Acceptance ................................................................................... 56 4.3. Friends and Families Approach to Rehabilitation ........................................................... 58 4.4. Failed Mental Rehabilitation? ............................................................................................ 67 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 69 6. Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 75 6.1. Unpublished Material from the East Grinstead Museum ............................................... 75 6.2. Published Primary Sources ................................................................................................ 76 6.3. Secondary Sources