A truly inspiring tale about the history of the Guinea Pig Club.
They called them the Guinea Pig Club: the British, Polish, and Czech airmen who were seriously burned in aeroplane fires, who braved experimental procedures that paved the way for modern reconstructive surgeries. Plastic surgery was in its infancy before the Second World War. The most rudimentary techniques were only known to a few surgeons worldwide. To the Allies’ tremendous fortune, the maverick surgeon Archibald McIndoe was operating at a small hospital in East Grinstead in the south of England.
McIndoe pioneered a new medical approach. Amid fierce arguments with his superiors, he set up a revolutionary treatment regime, uniquely concerned with the social environment — “holistic care.” His efforts rightly secured a place for him and the Guinea Pig Club as honoured heroes of the war.
For the first time, official records have been used to fully explain how and why this remarkable relationship developed between the Guinea Pig Club, the RAF, and the Home Front. First-person recollections bring to life the heroism of the airmen with incredible clarity.
