Mutilation and Disfiguration

The First World War created disfigured and mutilated bodies on a grand scale. Never before had the bodies of soldiers been so devastated by a conflict. Developments in established weapons such as cannons and machine guns, and terrifying innovations such as poison gas, created a relative army of disfigured and mutilated men. Some men lost multiple limbs and sensory organs such as eyes. No part of the body was safe from the potential of severe and life-changing wounds. Owing to new and advanced medical specialities, surgical techniques, and technical innovations, soldiers survived wounds that in previous conflicts might have killed them. Wounds healed, but often bodies were left badly disfigured and mutilated. These men had to manage not only the result of their bodily wounds, but also their emotional trauma and their new role as disabled veterans. For these damaged men, their war was over, but recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration presented a new set of challenges.