Great War Stories 1 - Harold Gillies and Henry Pickerill

Television (Full Length Episode) – 2014

This episode from the TV3 series of mini World War I stories looks at Harold Gillies and Henry Pickerill, two pioneers of plastic surgery who grafted “new hope onto despair” for soldiers whose faces had been demolished by war. The short details new methods the pair developed at Sidcup in England, a specialist unit set up by Gilles. It conveys the bravery of the surgeons and nurses in the face of appalling injuries, as well as the courage and “unquenchable optimism” of the patients. Presented by Hilary Barry, Great War Stories screened during 3 News.

With our artistic efforts constantly on exhibition about the wards, not only the patients judged our results, but we too, if only out of the corners of our eyes, jealously compared our work with that of our colleagues.
– Howard Gillies