Surgeon who worked to heal the scars of war
SIR – I was so pleased to read Joe Shute’s piece (Review, July 31) about Sir Archibald McIndoe, the pioneering plastic surgeon, and to know that he is still remembered.
My stepfather was wounded on the beaches at Dunkirk and was fortunate to be taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, where his right arm was saved by McIndoe with a flesh graft.
He spoke of McIndoe with gratitude and affection, and said that he frequently visited his patients and explained to them exactly what he was going to do.
After 10 months in hospital my stepfather, although not able to rejoin his infantry regiment, served overseas in the Transport Corps until the end of the war. He died at the age of 98 in 2011, and I cannot help thinking it would have been a long time to live with only one arm. Carol Rohrbaugh Indian Harbour Beach Florida, United States SIR – My late father, a factory manager in the Midlands, was called out in the middle of the night to his factory, where a pressure die casting machine was malfunctioning.
On examining the machine, my father told the operator to press an inlet button. Sadly the operator either misheard or misunderstood and pressed the outlet button, and my father received a faceful of molten aluminium.
He spent six months in Worcester Royal Infirmary, then went to East Grinstead for several operations by Archibald McIndoe. It was then decided to transfer him to the newly opened hospital at Stoke Mandeville. There he underwent many more operations performed by Professor Dickie Battle, who did a good job.
McIndoe certainly deserves the praise and honours bestowed on him, but as far as I know Professor Battle remains quite unknown. Michael Clemson Horsmonden, Kent