Pioneering plastic surgery

Judy Stokes joined her local British Red Cross detachment and found herself working alongside Sir Harold Gillies, the pioneering plastic surgeon.

"We were sent to Park Prewett Hospital at Basingstoke ... and a large house called Rooksdown House ... this was made into 8 wards, sorted; I think there were 2 if not 3 operating theatres ... And this came under the ruling of Sir Harold Gillies, who was pioneering plastic and jaw surgery. This was absolutely fascinating work. And at that age I had no idea that I was taking part in history. And it was an absolute privilege to be on his staff ... many of these men were burns cases, mainly RAF or Tank Corps ... Horrifying ... later on when the POW camps and the concentration camps were being released and those men were coming back to England, we were dealing with atrocities. And it's quite frightening the first time you meet somebody without a nose. Man's inhumanity to man shows up in wartime worse than at any other time. You couldn't believe what some of those men had suffered and had to cope with. And we had to try and repair, and the enormour rate of success that was achieved ... And always, always in favour of the patient. Whatever they wanted, whatever their needs, had to be met. They had suffered so much, and given so much, which couldn't be totally replaced."

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