Surgical secrets
The fascinating history of an abandoned hospital where plastic surgery was born…
Opened in 1879, Cambridge Military Hospital, in Aldershot, was once used to treat badly injured soldiers from World
War One. Today it stands empty and abandoned. But this is where pioneering surgery took place that led to the first sex-change operation.
‘During World War One, many soldiers with facial injuries were brought to the hospital,’ says politician-turned-presenter Michael Portillo, who returns with a series revealing the intriguing history behind Britain’s long-abandoned locations.
Soldiers suffering severe disfigurement had previously been given special masks to cover their injuries, but military surgeon Harold Gillies, working
at the hospital, decided this was unsatisfactory.
Gillies developed the tubed pedicle procedure, which involved taking a piece of flesh from one part of the body and transporting it to a damaged area over the course of weeks.
Pioneering
‘The idea that you could walk, or “waltz” as they described it, a piece of flesh up a body and then rebuild a nose, a cheek or a jaw is incredible,’ says Michael. ‘It was very uplifting to see the photographs of the end results.’
Later, in 1951, Gillies used his technique to perform the first sex change on Spitfire pilot and father-of-two Robert Cowell.
‘Robert became Roberta, and was on the front pages of the papers,’ says Michael, who also met Roberta’s daughter Diana. ‘The operation was a trailblazer. Gillies made a huge difference. It was fascinating to see where it all started.’