Guinea Pig forerunner

SIR – I very much look forward to the film to be made about Sir Archibald Mcindoe, the famous surgeon (report, May 22), and was fortunate enough to be at the National Arboretum last year when his statue was unveiled there.

However, no mention has yet been made of Sir Harold Gillies, who was also born in New Zealand and known as the “father of plastic surgery”. It was Sir Harold who taught Sir Archibald.

Sir Harold reconstructed many noses, ears and so on in the First World War and then pioneered much plastic surgery until his death in 1960, when I was working for him. I hope he gets at least some recognition in the film. Shirley Phipps

Wendover, Buckinghamshire