“What Tommy did next” Rehabilitation for limbless men during and after the Great War

About this talk: Over one million British men were left disabled by disease or injury as a result of the First World War. Around 41,000 British servicemen returned missing one or more limbs: this equated to 11,600 cases of lost arms and 29,400 cases of lost legs. With hospitals opening solely with the task of helping these limbless men, it was important that workshops for the production of artificial limbs were set up in Britain, in increasing numbers than there had been previously. This talk also looks at the rehabilitative work of the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital In Glasgow under Sir William Macewen, and the military hospital at Roehampton.

About the speaker: Louise Bell is currently a PhD student at the University of Leeds and The National Archives, researching British state provision of prosthetic limbs in the two world wars. She worked at The National Archives during the centenary. Her book "Images of The National Archives: Armistice" was released in November 2018.

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