The First World War might have commenced months earlier, but it was when Mrs. Mary Eleanor Gwynne Holford, one of the founders of the Queen Mary Convalescent Auxiliary Hospital, visited the wards at the Millbank Military Hospital, in January 1915, that the true human sacrifice of the war became apparent to her. It was here that the inspiration to open such a hospital was born. Gwynne Holford describes spotting a man who was sitting at a table ‘with a look of utter sadness and hopelessness on his face, a man who had lost both arms.’[1] On the table in front of him rested the two leather sockets with hooks attached, which the government had supplied as a substitute for what he had lost. Conversing with him, his response to her questioning about what had happened to him was: ‘Is this all my country can do for me?’[2] These words lit this spark of determination within Gwynne Holford and she vowed that she would ‘work for one object and that was to start a hospital whereby all those who had the misfortune to lose a limb in this terrible war, could be fitted with those most perfect artificial limbs human science could devise.’[3]

The creation and maintenance of Roehampton as a limb fitting centre was due to ‘the public spirit and foresight of its Founders’, Gwynne Holford, Lady Falmouth and Charles Kenderdine, as well as due to the ‘generosity of the public as a whole’.[4] Appeals were made to the public in order to drum up support and funds for the opening and maintenance of the hospital. By June 1915, donations totalling £19,715 had been subscribed to the hospital fund.[5]

The owner of Roehampton House, Mr Kenneth E. Wilson, agreed to lend the house to the committee rent free, as well as 30 acres of land surrounding the house. The house itself was a stately mansion, the grounds and settings of which would play a more important role in regards to the rehabilitation of these men - allowing space for recreational pursuits and for workshops to be set up.

Workshops for the manufacture of every variety of artificial limb were erected on the grounds of Roehampton. In order to keep to the promise of supplying the best limbs that could be constructed, an exhibition was held at the house from the 20th to the 23rd July 1915, to which three American firms were invited to send representatives. These firms were Carne of Kansas City, J.E. Hanger from Dayton, Ohio, and J.F. Rowley of Chicago. It was determined that it would be of best interest to establish the limb makers on the actual site of Roehampton, so as to maximise production. It was not just the three American companies that had workshops on site. British limb makers such as Blatchford also had tenancy agreements for huts in the hospital grounds. In regards to the prosthetic legs produced at Roehampton during the war, Mr. Rowley stated that ‘the legs are built under the men. No two are alike.’[6] Each man would be properly measured and fitted with his new prosthesis, before leaving the hospital. Once receiving a new limb, however, these institutions had to stay true to the remaining goal that they had expressed – that of teaching the men how to properly use such a limb. Rehabilitation usually took two forms: sport and recreation, and employment.

During the war, and after, sporting events in which the war disabled took part were widespread. These events were organised partly to raise money for the hospitals and institutions that cared for the men, but also as a means of allowing the disabled men to show off their sporting ability to the public. Many of these men had to remain in hospital for lengthy periods of time, so the chance to play a sport was one manner of breaking up the monotony of ward life. Sport was also a part of service life. It maintained fitness levels, enforced discipline, and allowed for the idea of being part of a team to grow. Exercising allowed this semblance of normality, but it also allowed the men to practice using their limbs and to get used to things like balance and the new equilibrium needed to walk effectively using them.

‘They will be taught the use of these new limbs, and it is hoped that they will also learn some trade for which they are fitted.’[7] Workshops were erected in the grounds of hospitals in order to try and aid these men with finding employment once they had left the wards. Not just intended as a forward-looking scheme, the workshops were detailed with the task of employing the spare time of those waiting for treatment at the hospital in ‘useful and remunerative work.’[8] ‘Hope welcomes all who enter here!’ was the keynote for the training that was provided by the workshops at Roehampton.[9] Instruction in various work was available, with accounts talking of motor and electrical engineering, carpentry, accountancy, shorthand and typewriting. Twenty-four trades in total were available to practice in these workshops. To further aid these men, an employment bureau was set up at Roehampton. Notices were posted throughout the institution, advertising the positions that were available for the men convalescing there.

By January 1919, a total of 16,438 men had passed through the wards of the hospital at Roehampton.[10] A year later, this number had risen to 20,521 men.[11] These figures serve to show how important the production, and supply, of limbs was to these men and to the work that was undertaken at the hospitals. They, too, highlight how important a role the hospitals were continuing to play even after the war had ended. There were still lists of men waiting for new limbs, as well as those who would need to return for readjustments and repairs.

[1] Helen Alper, A History of Queen Mary’s University Hospital Roehampton (London: Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust, 1996) p.7.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Imperial War Museum (IWM), Queen Mary’s (Roehampton) Hospital, Roehampton House, S.W.15. for Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen Who Have Lost Their Limbs in the War, Artificial Limbs Work at Roehampton 1915-1930, K.4394

[5] London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), Queen Mary’s Convalescent Auxiliary Hospitals General Committee Minutes I, H02/QM/A/1/1.

[6] LMA, News Cuttings No.1., Evening News, September 1915.

[7] LMA, News Cuttings No.1., Daily Telegraph, 5th July 1915.

[8] John Reid, The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers at Erskine House (Glasgow: printed for Private Circulation, James Maclehose and Sons, Publishers to the University, 1917), p.43

[9] IWM, The Future of Our Disabled Sailors and Soldiers: A Description of the Training and Instruction Classes at Queen Mary’s Convalescent Auxiliary Hospitals, Roehampton, and at Queen Mary’s Workshops, Pavilion Military Hospital, Brighton, for Sailors and Soldiers Who Have Lost Their Limbs in the War, KO7/220.

[10] LMA, Queen Mary’s Convalescent Auxiliary Hospitals General Committee Minute Book II, H02/QM/A1/2

[11] Ibid.

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