History Seminar: a heavy cross

This event was held on Thursday 3 November 2016

The History@Newcastle Research Seminar Series presents Dr Kerry Neale of the Australian War Memorial, who will present "'A Heavy Cross:' the Psychological Toll of Facial Disfigurement from the First World War to Afghanistan."

There is something of a misconception that the lives of disfigured veterans are inherently tragic. The social stigma surrounding facial disfigurement has long been recognised. Writing in 1818 on disfigured veterans from the Napoleonic Wars, Carl Ferdinand von Graef observed:

We have compassion when we see people on crutches; being crippled does not stop them from being happy and pleasant in society … [But those] who have suffered a deformation of the face, even if it is partially disguised by a mask, create disgust in our imagination.

Almost 100 years later, Ward Muir, an orderly treating Great War soldiers in the facial unit at the 3rd London General hospital, pondered the lives of his patients:

Suppose he is married, or engaged to be married. Could any woman come near that gargoyle without repugnance? His children… Why, a child would run screaming from such a sight. To be fled from by children! That must be a heavy cross for some souls to bear.

With advances in the transportation of the wounded and improved medical treatment, many Great War soldiers who would have died from such wounds in earlier conflicts survived, only to live with severe disfigurement. My paper today will examine what this meant for the men once they left the relative security of the hospital and had to engage with the wider community. I will then turn to a discussion of similarly disfigured veterans of recent conflicts and how society might be able to learn from the experiences of the past to inform our understanding of the needs of disfigured veterans today and into the future.

Biography

Dr Kerry Neale is a curator at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  She completed her doctorate through the University of New South Wales, with a thesis focusing on disfigured Great War veterans from Britain and the Dominions. She is currently reworking her thesis for publication. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, and has undertaken research in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United State, New Zealand and Canada.  She graduated with Honours and the University Medal in History from the Australian National University.