The Guinea Pig Club, established in 1941, was a social club and mutual support network for British and
allied aircrew injured during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Its membership was made up of patients of
Archibald McIndoe
Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.
Early life
Archi ...
in Ward III at
Queen Victoria Hospital
The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-fam ...
,
East Grinstead, Sussex, who had undergone experimental
reconstructive plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
, including
facial reconstruction, generally after receiving
burns injuries in aircraft. The club remained active after the end of the war, and its annual reunion meetings continued until 2007.
Name
The name "
Guinea Pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
" – the rodent species commonly used as a laboratory
test subject – was chosen to reflect the experimental nature of the techniques and equipment used for reconstructive work at East Grinstead. The treatment of burns by surgery was in its infancy, and many casualties were suffering from injuries which, only a few years earlier, would have led to certain death. The hospital was nicknamed "the Sty".
Origins
The club was established informally in June 1941 with 39 patients, primarily as a
drinking club, and rapidly won McIndoe's endorsement. The members were aircrew patients in Ward III and the surgeons and
anaesthetist
Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...
s who treated them. Aircrew members had to be serving airmen who had gone through at least two surgical procedures. By the end of the war the club had 649 members. (643 names are listed on the
"Roll of Honour" memorial at Queen Victoria Hospital.
)
The original members were
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) aircrew who had severe burns, generally to the face or hands. Most were British but other significant minorities included Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and by the end of the war Americans, French, Russians, Czechs and Poles. In 1943, a dedicated Canadian wing was built at the hospital, on the initiative of the
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
and at Canadian expense. During the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
, most of the patients at East Grinstead were fighter pilots, but by the end of the war around 80% of the members were from bomber crews of
RAF Bomber Command. A minority of members had suffered non-burns-related injuries (for example,
maxillofacial damage incurred in crashes); while another small minority came from army or navy rather than air force backgrounds.
A few members even joined the club after the war's end, through injuries sustained in peacetime accidents, as Ward III remained operational until 1948.
Before the war the RAF had made preparations by setting up burns units in several hospitals to treat the expected casualties. At East Grinstead, McIndoe and his colleagues, including
Albert Ross Tilley
Albert Ross Tilley, (November 24, 1904 – April 19, 1988) was a Canadian plastic surgeon who pioneered the treatment of burned airmen during the Second World War.
Early years
Tilley was born in Bowmanville, Ontario and graduated from the ...
, developed and improved many techniques for treating and reconstructing burns victims. They had to deal with very severe injuries: one man, Air Gunner Les Wilkins, lost his face and hands and McIndoe recreated his fingers by making incisions between his knuckles.
Aware that many patients would have to stay in hospital for several years and undergo many reconstructive operations, MacIndoe set out to make their lives relaxed and socially productive. He gave much thought to the reintegration of patients into normal life after treatment, an aspect of care that had previously been neglected. They were encouraged to lead as normal a life as possible, including being permitted to wear their own clothes or service uniforms instead of "convalescent blues", and to leave the hospital at will. Local families were encouraged to welcome them as guests, and other residents to treat them without distinction: East Grinstead became "the town that didn't stare". The Guinea Pig Club was part of these efforts to make life in hospital easier, and to rebuild patients psychologically in preparation for life outside. There were even barrels of
pale ale in the wards – partly in the interests of
re-hydrating patients whose injuries had left them dangerously
dehydrated
In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...
, but also to encourage an informal and happy atmosphere.
Later, many of the men also served in other capacities in RAF operations control rooms, and occasionally as pilots between the surgeries. Those unable to serve in any capacity received full pay until the last surgical operations and only then were invalided out of the service. McIndoe also later loaned some of his patients money for their re-entry into civilian life.
A club magazine, ''The Guinea Pig'', was first published in April 1944.
Post-war history
The club was not disbanded at the end of the war, but continued to meet for over sixty years, offering practical support and a sense of community to former patients. ''The Guinea Pig'' magazine also continued to be published until 2003.
Annual meetings at East Grinstead attracted visitors from all over the world. McIndoe had been elected life president at the club's foundation: after his death in 1960,
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
, became president.
Geoffrey Page
Alan Geoffrey Page, (16 May 1920 – 3 August 2000), known as Geoffrey Page, was an officer in the Royal Air Force who served during the Second World War. He participated in the Battle of Britain, and was shot down. He was badly burned when his ...
was the first chairman; and
Tom Gleave served as the first and only Chief Guinea Pig until his death in 1993.
In 2001 (the 60th anniversary of the club's foundation) the members agreed to continue holding their annual reunions at East Grinstead until there were only 50 members left.
[Mayhew 2004, p. 204.] By 2004, there were 120 survivors;
and by 2007 there were 97 (57 in Britain; 40 elsewhere in the world), their ages ranging from 82 to 102.
In the event, 2007 marked the last reunion. It attracted over 60 attendees, but in view of the survivors' age and frailty the decision was then taken to wind the club down.
There were believed to be 29 survivors by April 2015, and 17 by November 2016.
Brevet
The club symbol, or "brevet", depicted a guinea pig flanked by oversized
RAF "wings". Two artistic renditions were used: the first showed the guinea pig sitting upright and with his ears swept back, perhaps in imitation of a pilot at the controls of his aircraft; while the second showed a more naturalistic guinea pig on all fours.
Anthem
The words to the club anthem were written by Edward "Blackie" Blacksell. They were inspired by the World War I song "
Fred Karno's Army", and (like that song) sung to the tune ''Aurelia'' by
Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Samuel Sebastian Wesley (14 August 1810 – 19 April 1876) was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children. He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley.
Bio ...
, best known as the tune of the popular hymn "
The Church's One Foundation
"The Church's One Foundation" is a Christian hymn written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone.
Background
The song was written as a direct response to the schism within the Church of South Africa caused by John William Colenso, first Bishop of N ...
". The final line of the second verse is an example of a
mind rhyme.
Legacy
Sixteen members of the club wrote books about their experiences, some of them during the war. The best known, and most influential in raising public awareness of McIndoe's work, was
Richard Hillary
Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary (20 April 1919 – 8 January 1943) was an Anglo-Australian Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War. He wrote the book '' The Last Enemy'' about his experiences during the Battle of Brit ...
's ''
The Last Enemy'', originally published in the United States as ''Falling Through Space'' (1942).
One of the pubs in East Grinstead adopted the name "The Guinea Pig". It closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2009 to make way for a social housing development named Guinea Pig Place.
A painted Roll of Honour is displayed in a corridor of the Canadian Wing at Queen Victoria Hospital.
A bronze monument commemorating McIndoe, sculpted by
Martin Jennings
Martin Jennings, FRBS (born 31 July 1957, in Chichester, West Sussex) a British sculptor who works in the figurative tradition, in bronze and stone. His statue of John Betjeman at St Pancras railway station was unveiled in 2007 and the statu ...
(whose own father was a Guinea Pig), was unveiled in East Grinstead High Street in 2014. It depicts a seated airman, with his burned hands clawed together, and his scarred face turned to one side. Behind him, resting a reassuring hand on each shoulder, stands the figure of McIndoe. The two figures are encircled by a stone bench.
In November 2016, a monument honouring members of the club was unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh, its president, at the
National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and civilian ...
, Staffordshire.
An exhibition in
East Grinstead Museum honouring the members of the club was opened in December 2016 by
Susan Piper,
Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex
This is a complete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex since the creation of the office and the county on 1 April 1974:
*1 April 1974 – 31 January 1975: Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk (previously Lor ...
, with four club members in attendance.
In 2017, the Guinea Pig Club directly inspired the formation of the
CASEVAC
Casualty evacuation, also known as CASEVAC or by the callsign Dustoff or colloquially Dust Off, is a military term for the emergency patient evacuation of casualties from a combat zone. Casevac can be done by both ground and air. "DUSTOFF" is ...
Club, a similar mutual support group for service personnel badly injured in the
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and
Afghan
Afghan may refer to:
*Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia
*Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity
** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
wars of the 21st century.
Notable members
*
George Bennions (1913–2004)
*
Harold Bird-Wilson
Air Vice Marshal Harold Arthur Cooper "Birdie" Bird-Wilson, (20 November 1919 – 27 December 2000) was a senior Royal Air Force officer, and a flying ace of the Second World War.
Early life
Bird-Wilson was born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 20 ...
(1919–2000)
*
Robert Boscawen
Robert Thomas Boscawen (17 March 1923 – 28 December 2013) was a British Conservative politician. He was the last member of the House of Commons to hold a Military Cross for action during the Second World War.
Background and education
Robert ...
(1923–2013)
*
Bob Doe
Robert Francis Thomas Doe, (10 March 1920 – 21 February 2010) was a British fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. He flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, and was seconded to the Indian Air Force during t ...
(1920–2010)
*
Jimmy Edwards
James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''.
Early lif ...
(1920–1988)
*
Bill Foxley (1923–2010)
*
Tom Gleave (1908–1993)
*
Richard Hillary
Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary (20 April 1919 – 8 January 1943) was an Anglo-Australian Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War. He wrote the book '' The Last Enemy'' about his experiences during the Battle of Brit ...
(1919–1943)
*
Colin Hodgkinson
Colin Hodgkinson (born 14 October 1945, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England) is a British rock, jazz and blues bassist, who has been active since the 1960s.
Career
Hodgkinson played in several bands, but was even more prolific as a sessi ...
(1920–1996)
* (1912–1980)
*
Eric Lock
Eric Stanley Lock, (19 April 1919 – 3 August 1941) was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War.
Born in Shrewsbury in 1919, Lock had his first experience of flying as a teenager. In the late 1930 ...
(1919–1941)
*
Jackie Mann
Jackie Mann, (11 June 1914 – 12 November 1995) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, who in later life was kidnapped by Islamists in Lebanon in May 1989 and held hostage for more than two years.
RAF career
Born in Nort ...
(1914–1995)
*
Geoffrey Page
Alan Geoffrey Page, (16 May 1920 – 3 August 2000), known as Geoffrey Page, was an officer in the Royal Air Force who served during the Second World War. He participated in the Battle of Britain, and was shot down. He was badly burned when his ...
(1920–2000)
*
Richard Pape
Richard Bernard Pape Military Medal, MM (17 March 1916 – 19 June 1995) was a British Second World War escapee, adventurer, autobiographer and novelist.
Pape was born in 1916 in Roundhay, Leeds, Yorkshire. He worked as a journalist in the ''York ...
(1916–1995)
*
Alois Šiška (1914–2003)
* (1917–1946)
*
Robert Wright (1906–1992)
Popular culture
Charles MacLean, himself a Guinea Pig, published a novel, ''The Heavens are not too High'', in 1957, telling the story of a fighter pilot who suffers severe burns.
''Guinea Pig Club'' was the title of a play centred on McIndoe's work produced at
York Theatre Royal
York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offe ...
in 2012, featuring
Graeme Hawley
Graeme Hawley (born 28 November 1975) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as John Stape in the British soap ''Coronation Street''. Career
Hawley graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a degree in Drama, b ...
as McIndoe.
''
Foyle's War
''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...
'', series 3, episode 2, "
Enemy Fire" (2004) features a stately home converted to a burns unit in which the patients are encouraged to drink beer, wear their own clothes and organise entertainment. McIndoe is mentioned in passing.
Joseph Randolph Richard's novel ''Incendo'' (2015) tells the story of a badly burned pilot and his membership of the club.
A film entitled ''The Guinea Pig Club'', starring
Richard E. Grant as McIndoe, was reported to be planned for production in 2018.
See also
*
Mollie Lentaigne, a medical artist and nurse at East Grinstead who made drawings of McIndoe's procedures
Bibliography
Memoirs
(Listed in order of date of first publication)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
evised edition published 1999 as ''Shot Down in Flames: a World War II fighter pilot's remarkable tale of survival''.
In addition, ''The Guinea Pig'' magazine regularly featured a column "How I became a Guinea Pig", in which individual members recounted their personal experiences.
Secondary accounts
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
evised edition published 2018 as ''The Guinea Pig Club: Archibald McIndoe and the RAF in World War II''. *
*
References
External links
The Guinea Pig Club: Jack Toper's Storyfrom the BBC on YouTube
"War Is a Helluva Teacher"from NPR in 2006
Hilda Moore, a Canadian nursing sister recounts serving at East Grinsteadfrom
Veterans Affairs Canada
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC; french: Anciens Combattants Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada with responsibility for pensions, benefits and services for war veterans, retired and still-serving members of the Canadian Arme ...
Interviews and photographs of the Guinea Pig Clubfrom The Guardian
{{Authority control
1941 establishments in England
Patients' organizations
Plastic surgery organizations
United Kingdom in World War II
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Medical and health organisations based in England
Oral and maxillofacial surgery organizations
Archibald McIndoe
2007 disestablishments in England