Harold Gillies

Sir Harold Delf Gillies was a pioneering surgeon from New Zealand. He is widely recognized as the father of modern plastic surgery. This specialized field of medicine focuses on repairing and reconstructing body parts. Gillies developed many of the techniques used to heal severe facial injuries. His work changed the way doctors approach reconstructive surgery forever.

During World War I, many soldiers returned with devastating facial wounds. Gillies began his medical career as an otolaryngologist, which is a specialist in the ear, nose, and throat. He observed early experiments with skin graft techniques in France. A skin graft involves moving a piece of skin to cover a wound. He also watched oral surgeon Hippolyte Morestin in Paris. Morestin used skin from a patient's jaw to cover a facial tumor. These observations helped Gillies develop more advanced methods for repairing faces.

One of his most important methods was the flap technique. In a flap surgery, a piece of skin is moved to a new area while remaining attached to its original blood supply. This helps the tissue survive and heal in a new location.

A sailor named Walter Yeo is believed to be one of the first to receive such surgery in 1917. Gillies and his colleagues used these innovations to treat thousands of men. They moved beyond simple skin grafts to more complex reconstructions. This allowed for much better healing and functional results for patients.

To manage the growing number of injured soldiers, a specialized hospital was needed. Gillies persuaded the army's chief surgeon to establish a facial injury ward. This ward eventually grew too large for its original location in Aldershot. In June 1917, the Queen's Hospital opened at Frognal House in Sidcup. This hospital later became known as Queen Mary's Hospital.

It provided over 1,000 beds for patients needing facial repairs. During the war, Gillies and his team performed more than 11,000 operations on over 5,000 men.

Gillies had a very active professional life both during and after the wars. He was awarded an OBE in 1919 and a CBE in 1920. He was eventually knighted in the 1930 Birthday Honours. Between the wars, he ran a successful private practice with Rainsford Mowlem. He also traveled the world to lecture and teach his techniques. He even invited his cousin, Archibald McIndoe, to join his practice. McIndoe went on to become a very famous plastic surgeon himself.

In his later years, Gillies performed groundbreaking gender-affirming surgeries. These procedures helped people whose bodies did not match their identity. In 1946, he helped Michael Dillon through one of the first male gender-affirming surgeries. In 1951, he and his colleagues performed a female gender-affirming surgery on Roberta Cowell. For this, they used a flap technique. This specific method became the medical standard for 40 years. Gillies believed that providing real happiness was the highest goal of medicine.

Gillies was also a talented athlete before his medical career took off. He was a competitive rower and a highly skilled amateur golfer. He competed in many major golf championships between 1906 and 1931. He even represented England in matches against Scotland. Despite his professional success, he did not accumulate great wealth. He earned about £30,000 per year during his peak. However, he left an estate of only £21,161 when he died.

Sir Harold Gillies died in London on 10 September 1960. He suffered a cerebral thrombosis, which is a blockage in the brain, during a major operation. He was 78 years old at the time. His legacy lives on through the many doctors he trained. He trained many surgeons from various Commonwealth nations. His impact is also remembered through memorial sites in England and New Zealand. These include Gillies Lane and a road named Gillies Close in Cambridge.