‘Unique’ operation for injured soldier
A Bannockburn man badly injured in the fighting benefitted from a “unique” surgical operation, the Observer reported 100 years ago.
Former miner David Gray enlisted in the 8th Gordon Highlanders three months after the start of the war and took part in a number of engagements before being reported missing following the Battle of Loos in September 1915.
His mother received official notification of his death the following month but three weeks later she received a letter stating that he was, in fact, alive though severely wounded and a prisoner of war in Germany.
He underwent two operations: one in connection with his tongue and the other for a fractured or broken jaw.
He suffered “many hardships” in the 11 months he was a prisoner of the Germans but was allowed to leave for Switzerland following an agreement between the countries involved in the war.
After the British Government put in place arrangements for relatives to visit the wounded in Switzerland, Mrs Gray left Bannockburn on July 3 to see her injured son.
She spent 16 days with him and discovered that he had to undergo surgery after much of his jaw bone “rotted away.”
Explaining David’s story in a letter to the Observer, J Newby, Main Street, Bannockburn, said: “The operation, performed by a Swiss doctor, consisted of extracting a rib from Gray’s right side and putting it in the place of the injured jawbone.
“That is, I think, a most unique and wonderful piece of surgery.”
The operation was said to be a complete success although David faced two months in which his mouth would be sealed.
He was unable to chew or swallow and had to be fed liquid food through a tube.
“In the face of his suffering his mother says he is in good health and the best of spirits,” said the letter writer.
That is, I think, a most unique and wonderful piece of surgery