Page 13 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side v1

Many of those left behind stepped in to help maintain law and order, such as Charles Thomas Knight
who undertook the task of Special Constable. His father’s building company, Thomas Knight Builders,
built Sidcup’s Cottage Hospital and Thomas Knight was one of the Hospital’s Trustees. Others stepped
in as conductors on the trams, worked on the farms, and collected money for the “Tobacco Fund”.
Women and girls knitted gloves and socks for the troops or like Mrs Rose Morris took on the nightly
job of lighting Foots Cray's gas lamps. The majority felt that if the men were willing to fight for their
country, those that remained behind should do all they could.

Queen’s Hospital, Sidcup

From 1917, The Queen’s Hospital, Frognal in Sidcup (later re-named Queen Mary’s Hospital) was the
centre of the pioneering work being out carried by New Zealand-born surgeon Major Gillies, who
resided in Cray Road, Foots Cray. Driven by his persistence, and fuelled by the flood of casualties from
the battle of the Somme, the Queen’s Hospital was developed as the First World War’s major centre for
maxillo-facial and plastic surgery.

The dedicated medical staff were organised on national lines, with contingents from Great Britain,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Between 1917-1921 they treated and cared for over 5,000
gravely injured servicemen who would otherwise have been permanently disfigured and would have
had little alternative but to live a life in the shadows. Many were very reluctant to return home, not
wishing to face their family and friends until their disfigurement was corrected as far as was possible.

Major Gillies first opened a hospital at Aldershot and treated thousands of facial injuries. But the
hospital was soon found to be too small and alternative premises were sought. Moving to Sidcup in
1917, which was then considered to be very much a countryside location, the men’s welfare and future
prospects of earning their living was a major factor in re-locating at the palatial house of "Frognal",
the former home of Lord Sydney.

Major Harold Gillies (top row, far right) photographed with Queen Mary

Major Harold Gillies born in New Zealand in 1882, studied medicine at Cambridge, qualifying as a
surgeon in the UK. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915 and went to France, where he
became interested in plastic surgery of the face.

Major Gillies later employed one of his patients as his chauffeur. His work was recognised throughout
the world as being a major advancement in the treatment of plastic surgery and he was knighted in the
1930 King’s birthday honours.