PR50P THE PIONEERS OF PLASTIC SURGERY IN AUSTRALIA

Abstract

The two World Wars left in their wake a generation of disfigured former soldiers‐ playing a key role in the evolution of both plastic and maxillofacial surgery during the first half of the 20th century. Sir Henry Simpson Newland and Sir Benjamin Rank are widely considered to be the talented surgeons who helped pioneer plastic and reconstructive surgery to “combat” the horrifying wounds.Sir Henry Newland was a surgeon in the heroic tradition. As with many other surgeons, his skills were enhanced by World War I during which he did remarkable work in transforming battered faces. He served with the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt, Lemnos, Gallipoli and France, gaining experience of military surgery at Ypres and Passchendaele. He was lieutenant‐colonel commanding the Australian section of Queen Mary Hospital, Sidcup, where pioneer work in plastic surgery was carried out. Reconstructive surgery of the skull and the face had its foundations at Sidcup.Sir Benjamin Rank's life was transformed as a young surgeon in uniform during World War 2. He was only 30 when he found himself heading a new maxillofacial and plastic surgery unit established to reconstruct the limbs, faces and bodies of wounded sailors, soldiers and airmen in Egypt. He spent time overseas and then returned to Australia in 1942 to set up the plastic and facio‐maxillary unit at Heidelberg Military Hospital in Victoria.He spent much time overseas teaching and demonstrating his skills and was instrumental in the establishment of plastic surgery as a speciality in India for which he received the Commander of St Michael and St George.