The Wellcome Collection continues its series of challenging and thought-provoking exhibitions with War and Medicine – focusing on the breakthroughs that have taken place in medical science in times of war.

Surgeons, doctors and nurses have to cope with the worst that humans can inflict on one another during wartime. The exhibition contains 200 exhibits ranging from the Crimean War, which took place in 1850s and brought Florence Nightingale to the public’s attention, through to the present day conflict in Afghanistan.

A sculpture based on the pioneering skin-grafting techniques of Sir Harold Gillies (Source: Wellcome Collection)

While shocking in places, especially the opening panels listing the number of dead and wounded from the six wars that the exhibition focuses on (Crimean; World War I; World War II; Vietnam; Falklands; and Afghanistan) the development of increasingly sophisticated weaponry meant medicine had to adapt quickly, often on the field of conflict.

In the exhibition you can read about New Zealand born plastic surgery pioneer Sir Harold Gillies who developed plastic surgery techniques during World War I to treat facial wounds. At a specially built faculty at London’s Queen’s Hospital, more than 11,000 operations were performed on over 5,000 men during the war. His legacy lives on with the publication in 1957 of ‘The Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery’ which is still a major work on the subject.

The exhibition is full of the personal experiences of surgeons, soldiers, civilians, nurses, writers and artists and brings home the stark realities of war and the miracles of medicine.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk