{{Short description|Support group for injured World War II aircrew}} {{EngvarB|date=June 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox organization |name = The Guinea Pig Club |image = File:Guinea Pig Club brevet.jpg |image_border = |image_size = |image_alt = |caption = |abbreviation = |formation = June 1941 |dissolved = 2007 |type = Patient support group |purpose = Social club and mutual support network for injured servicemen following reconstructive surgery |location = |founder = [[Archibald McIndoe]] }} {{quote box |quote=It has been described as the most exclusive Club in the world, but the entrance fee is something most men would not care to pay and the conditions of membership are arduous in the extreme. |align = right |width = 25em |salign=right |source=[[Archibald McIndoe]], 1947<ref>{{cite journal |first=Archibald |last=McIndoe |author-link=Archibald McIndoe |title=The Maestro's message |journal=The Guinea Pig |date=July 1947 |pages=3–4 }}; quoted in Mayhew 2004, p. 78.</ref>}} The '''Guinea Pig Club''', established in 1941, was a social club and mutual support network for British and [[Allies of World War II|allied]] [[aircrew]] injured during [[World War II]]. Its membership was made up of patients of [[Archibald McIndoe]] in Ward III at [[Queen Victoria Hospital]], [[East Grinstead]], Sussex, who had undergone experimental [[reconstructive surgery|reconstructive]] [[plastic surgery]], including [[Oral and maxillofacial surgery|facial reconstruction]], generally after receiving [[burn (injury)|burns injuries]] in aircraft. The club remained active after the end of the war, and its annual reunion meetings continued until 2007.
==Name== The name "[[Guinea Pig]]" – the rodent species commonly used as a laboratory [[Animal testing|test subject]] – was chosen to reflect the experimental nature of the techniques and equipment used for reconstructive work at East Grinstead. The treatment of burns by surgery was in its infancy, and many casualties were suffering from injuries which, only a few years earlier, would have led to certain death. The hospital was nicknamed "the Sty".<ref>Bishop 2004, pp. 8, 17.</ref><ref>Mayhew 2004, pp. 79, 96.</ref>
==Origins== [[File:Archibald Mcindoe - Consultant in Plastic Surgery to the Royal Air Force, operating at the Queen Victoria Plastic and Jaw Injury centre, East Grinstead Art.IWMARTLD6001.jpg|thumb|McIndoe operating at East Grinstead: painting by [[Anna Zinkeisen]], 1944]] The club was established informally in June 1941 with 39 patients, primarily as a [[drinking club]], and rapidly won McIndoe's endorsement.<ref>Bishop 2004, pp. 2–4.</ref><ref>Mayhew 2004, pp. 77–8.</ref> The members were aircrew patients in Ward III and the surgeons and [[anaesthetist]]s who treated them. Aircrew members had to be serving airmen who had gone through at least two surgical procedures. By the end of the war the club had 649 members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastgrinsteadmuseum.org.uk/gpc-history/ |title=Guinea Pig Club – the History |publisher=East Grinstead Museum |access-date=2015-07-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923232604/http://www.eastgrinsteadmuseum.org.uk/gpc-history/ |archive-date=23 September 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> (642 names are listed on the [[War memorial|"Roll of Honour" memorial]] at Queen Victoria Hospital.<ref name="roh">{{cite web |title=Guinea Pig Club ROH |work=War Memorials Register |publisher=Imperial War Museum |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/72952 |access-date=6 May 2020 }}</ref><ref name="rohlist">{{cite web |first=James |last=Castle |title=List of Guinea Pig Club Members |work=Royal Air Force Commands |url=http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?20296-List-of-Guinea-Pig-Club-Members |date=5 June 2016 |access-date=6 May 2020 }}</ref>)
[[File:Frantisek Truhlar (1917 1946) A.jpg|thumb|left|upright|{{ill|Frankie Truhlář|cz|František Truhlář}}, a Czech member of the club]] The original members were [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) aircrew who had severe burns, generally to the face or hands. Most were British but other significant minorities included Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and by the end of the war Americans, French, Russians, Czechs and Poles. In 1943, a dedicated Canadian wing was built at the hospital, on the initiative of the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] and at Canadian expense.<ref>Bishop 2004, pp. 100–101.</ref><ref>Mayhew 2004, pp. 123–7.</ref> During the [[Battle of Britain]], most of the patients at East Grinstead were fighter pilots, but by the end of the war around 80% of the members were from bomber crews of [[RAF Bomber Command]].<ref>Mayhew 2004, pp. 81–84.</ref> A minority of members had suffered non-burns-related injuries (for example, [[Oral and maxillofacial surgery|maxillofacial damage]] incurred in crashes); while another small minority came from army or navy rather than air force backgrounds.<ref>Bishop 2004, pp. 137–8.</ref><ref name="monument"/> A few members even joined the club after the war's end, through injuries sustained in peacetime accidents, as Ward III remained operational until 1948.<ref>Mayhew 2004, p. 192.</ref>
Before the war the RAF had made preparations by setting up burns units in several hospitals to treat the expected casualties. At East Grinstead, McIndoe and his colleagues, including [[Albert Ross Tilley]], developed and improved many techniques for treating and reconstructing burns victims. They had to deal with very severe injuries: one man, Air Gunner Les Wilkins, lost his face and hands and McIndoe recreated his fingers by making incisions between his knuckles.
Aware that many patients would have to stay in hospital for several years and undergo many reconstructive operations, MacIndoe set out to make their lives relaxed and socially productive. He gave much thought to the reintegration of patients into normal life after treatment, an aspect of care that had previously been neglected. They were encouraged to lead as normal a life as possible, including being permitted to wear their own clothes or service uniforms instead of "convalescent blues", and to leave the hospital at will. Local families were encouraged to welcome them as guests, and other residents to treat them without distinction: East Grinstead became "the town that didn't stare".<ref>Mayhew 2004, pp. 157–68.</ref> The Guinea Pig Club was part of these efforts to make life in hospital easier, and to rebuild patients psychologically in preparation for life outside. There were even barrels of [[pale ale]] in the wards – partly in the interests of [[Management of dehydration|re-hydrating]] patients whose injuries had left them dangerously [[Dehydration|dehydrated]], but also to encourage an informal and happy atmosphere.<ref>Mayhew 2004, p. 78.</ref>
Later, many of the men also served in other capacities in RAF operations control rooms, and occasionally as pilots between surgeries. Those unable to serve in any capacity received full pay until the last surgical operations and only then were invalided out of the service. McIndoe also later loaned some of his patients money for their re-entry into civilian life.
A club magazine, ''The Guinea Pig'', was first published in April 1944.
==Post-war history== [[File:Jan Black-Stangryciuk and Air Commodore Charles Clarke in September 2017.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jan Stangryciuk-Black]] (left), the last surviving member of the Guinea Pig Club, photographed in 2017 with Air Commodore [[Charles Clarke (RAF officer)|Charles Clarke]]]]
The club was not disbanded at the end of the war, but continued to meet for over sixty years, offering practical support and a sense of community to former patients. ''The Guinea Pig'' magazine also continued to be published until 2003.<ref name="May204"/> Annual meetings at East Grinstead attracted visitors from all over the world. McIndoe had been elected life president at the club's foundation: after his death in 1960, [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], became president.<ref name="furness">{{cite news |last1=Furness |first1=Hannah |title=Story of maverick WW2 'Guinea pig' surgeon to be told on big screen for first time|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/21/story-maverick-ww2-guinea-pig-surgeon-told-big-screen-first/|access-date=28 March 2018 |work=The Telegraph|date=21 May 2017}}</ref> [[Geoffrey Page]] was the first chairman; and [[Tom Gleave]] served as the first and only Chief Guinea Pig until his death in 1993.<ref>Bishop 2004, p 1.</ref>
In 2001 (the 60th anniversary of the club's foundation) the members agreed to continue holding their annual reunions at East Grinstead until there were only 50 members left.<ref name="May204">Mayhew 2004, p. 204.</ref> By 2004, there were 120 survivors;<ref name="May204"/> and by 2007 there were 97 (57 in Britain; 40 elsewhere in the world), their ages ranging from 82 to 102.<ref name="last reunion">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566203/Guinea-Pig-Club-holds-last-annual-reunion.html |title=Guinea Pig Club holds last annual reunion |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=15 October 2007 |access-date=15 September 2015 }}</ref> In the event, 2007 marked the last reunion. It attracted over 60 attendees, but in view of the survivors' age and frailty the decision was then taken to wind the club down.<ref name="last reunion"/> There were believed to be 29 survivors by April 2015,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11548279/Guinea-Pigs-and-Gurkhas-win-Soldiering-On-military-awards.html |first=Ben |last=Farmer |title=Guinea Pigs and Gurkhas win Soldiering On military awards |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=19 April 2015 |access-date=15 September 2015 }}</ref> and 17 by November 2016.<ref name="bbc">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37839965|title=Duke unveils tribute to war-wounded Guinea Pigs|date=2 November 2016|publisher=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=3 November 2016}}</ref> The last members of the club were Sam Gallop and [[Jan Stangryciuk-Black]], who were both aged 101 when they died only days apart in October 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fund pays tribute to Guinea Pig Club members Sam Gallop and Jan Stangryciuk-Black |publisher=[[Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund]] |date=24 October 2023 |url=https://www.rafbf.org/news-and-stories/news/fund-pays-tribute-guinea-pig-club-members-sam-gallop-and-jan-stangryciuk-black |access-date=28 October 2023 }}</ref>
==Brevet== The club symbol, or "brevet", depicted a guinea pig flanked by oversized [[Aircrew brevet|RAF "wings"]]. Two artistic renditions were used: the first showed the guinea pig sitting upright with his ears swept back, perhaps in imitation of a pilot at the controls of his aircraft; while the second showed a more naturalistic guinea pig on all fours.
==Anthem== The words to the club anthem were written by Edward "Blackie" Blacksell.<ref>Bishop 2004, pp. viii, 99.</ref> They were inspired by the World War I song "[[Fred Karno|Fred Karno's Army]]", and (like that song) sung to the tune ''Aurelia'' by [[Samuel Sebastian Wesley]], best known as the tune of the popular hymn "[[The Church's One Foundation]]". The final line of the second verse is an example of a [[mind rhyme]].
{{poemquote|We are McIndoe's army, We are his Guinea Pigs. With [[dermatome (instrument)|dermatome]]s and [[walking-stalk skin flap|pedicle]]s, Glass eyes, false teeth and wigs. And when we get our discharge We'll shout with all our might: "''[[Per ardua ad astra]]''" We'd rather drink than fight.
John Hunter runs the gas works, Ross Tilley wields the knife. And if they are not careful They'll have your flaming life. So, Guinea Pigs, stand ready For all your surgeons' calls: And if their hands aren’t steady They’ll whip off both your ears.
We've had some mad Australians, Some French, some Czechs, some Poles. We've even had some Yankees, God bless their precious souls. While as for the Canadians – Ah! That’s a different thing. They couldn’t stand our accent And built a separate Wing.
We are McIndoe’s army, ''(As first verse)''<ref>''The Guinea Pig Club: A Short History''. Leaflet available from the reception desk at the Queen Victoria Hospital.</ref>}}
==Legacy== [[File:McIndoe monument.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Monument to Sir Archibald McIndoe in East Grinstead]] Sixteen members of the club wrote books about their experiences, some of them during the war. The best known, and most influential in raising public awareness of McIndoe's work, was [[Richard Hillary]]'s ''[[The Last Enemy (autobiography)|The Last Enemy]]'', originally published in the United States as ''Falling Through Space'' (1942).
One of the pubs in East Grinstead adopted the name "The Guinea Pig".<ref>Bishop 2004, p. 136.</ref> It closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2009 to make way for a social housing development named Guinea Pig Place.
A painted Roll of Honour is displayed in a corridor of the Canadian Wing at Queen Victoria Hospital.<ref name="roh"/><ref name="rohlist"/>
A bronze monument commemorating McIndoe, sculpted by [[Martin Jennings]] (whose own father was a Guinea Pig), was unveiled in East Grinstead High Street in 2014. It depicts a seated airman, with his burned hands clawed together, and his scarred face turned to one side. Behind him, resting a reassuring hand on each shoulder, stands the figure of McIndoe. The two figures are encircled by a stone bench.<ref name="monument">{{cite news |first=Harry |last=de Quetteville |title=The pioneering surgeon who healed men scarred by war, a new monument created in his honour – and the remarkable twist of fate that links them|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10865297/The-pioneering-surgeon-who-healed-men-scarred-by-war-a-new-monument-created-in-his-honour-and-the-remarkable-twist-of-fate-that-links-them.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531021348/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10865297/The-pioneering-surgeon-who-healed-men-scarred-by-war-a-new-monument-created-in-his-honour-and-the-remarkable-twist-of-fate-that-links-them.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 May 2014|access-date=31 May 2014|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date=30 May 2014}}</ref>
In November 2016, a monument honouring members of the club was unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh, its president, at the [[National Memorial Arboretum]], Staffordshire.<ref name="bbc"/>
An exhibition in [[East Grinstead Museum]] honouring the members of the club was opened in December 2016 by [[Susan Piper]], [[Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex]], with four club members in attendance.<ref>{{cite journal|editor1-last=Williams|editor1-first=Simon|title=Museum honours Guinea Pig Club|journal=RAF News|date=23 January 2017|issue=1410|page=19|publisher=Royal Air Force|location=High Wycombe|issn=0035-8614}}</ref>
In 2017, the Guinea Pig Club directly inspired the formation of the [[CASEVAC Club]], a similar mutual support group for service personnel badly injured in the [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghan]] wars of the 21st century.<ref>Mayhew 2018, pp. 6–11.</ref>
==Notable members== [[File:Jimmy Edwards at CHRIS SHAW's Book Launch.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The comedy actor [[Jimmy Edwards]], a member of the club. He grew his trademark [[handlebar moustache]] in order to camouflage his facial injuries.]] *[[George Bennions]] (1913–2004) *[[Harold Bird-Wilson]] (1919–2000) *[[Robert Boscawen]] (1923–2013) *[[Bob Doe]] (1920–2010) *[[Jimmy Edwards]] (1920–1988) *[[Bill Foxley]] (1923–2010) *[[Tom Gleave]] (1908–1993) *[[Richard Hillary]] (1919–1943) *[[Colin Hodgkinson (RAF officer)|Colin Hodgkinson]] (1920–1996) *{{ill|Josef Koukal|cz|Josef Koukal (voják)}} (1912–1980) *[[Eric Lock]] (1919–1941) *[[Jackie Mann]] (1914–1995) *[[Geoffrey Page]] (1920–2000) *[[Richard Pape]] (1916–1995) *[[Alois Šiška]] (1914–2003) *[[Jan Stangryciuk-Black]] (1922–2023) *{{ill|František 'Frankie' Truhlář|cz|František Truhlář}} (1917–1946) *[[Robert Wright (historian)|Robert Wright]] (1906–1992)
==Popular culture== Charles MacLean, himself a Guinea Pig, published a novel, ''The Heavens are not too High'', in 1957, telling the story of a fighter pilot who suffers severe burns.<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles |last=MacLean |title=The Heavens are not too High |location=London |publisher=Kimber |year=1957 }}</ref>
The 1991 ITV miniseries ''[[A Perfect Hero]]'' centres on a young RAF fighter pilot shot down during the Battle of Britain who survives with severe burns, and his treatment, recovery, and experiences as a disfigured casualty of war: aspects of the story echo that of [[Richard Hillary]], as recorded in his memoir, ''[[The Last Enemy (autobiography)|The Last Enemy]]''.
''Guinea Pig Club'' was the title of a play centred on McIndoe's work produced at [[York Theatre Royal]] in 2012, featuring [[Graeme Hawley]] as McIndoe.
''[[Foyle's War]]'', series 3, episode 2, "[[Foyle's War (series 3)|Enemy Fire]]" (2004) features a stately home converted to a burns unit in which the patients are encouraged to drink beer, wear their own clothes and organise entertainment. McIndoe is mentioned in passing.
Joseph Randolph Richard's novel ''Incendo'' (2015) tells the story of a badly burned pilot and his membership of the club.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph Randolph |last=Richard |title=Incendo |year=2015 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1508882640 }}</ref>
A film entitled ''The Guinea Pig Club'', starring [[Richard E. Grant]] as McIndoe, was reported to be planned for production in 2018.<ref name="furness"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Allen|first1=Tracey|title=X-Men star Grant's film homage to McIndoe|newspaper=RAF News|date=2 June 2017|issue=1420|page=3|publisher=Royal Air Force|location=High Wycombe|issn=0035-8614}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Mollie Lentaigne]], a medical artist and nurse at East Grinstead who made drawings of McIndoe's procedures
==Bibliography==
===Memoirs=== (Listed in order of date of first publication) *{{cite book |first=Tom |last=Gleave |author-link=Tom Gleave |title=I had a Row with a German |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1941 }} *{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Hillary |author-link=Richard Hillary |title=[[The Last Enemy (autobiography)|The Last Enemy]] |year=1942 |place=London |publisher=Macmillan & Co. }} *{{cite book |first=William |last=Simpson |title=One of Our Pilots is Safe |location=London |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |year=1942 }} *{{cite book |first=William |last=Simpson |title=The Way of Recovery |location=London |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |year=1944 }} *{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Pape |author-link=Richard Pape |title=Boldness Be My Friend |location=London |publisher=Elek |year=1953 }} *{{cite book |first=William |last=Simpson |title=I Burned my Fingers |location=London |publisher=Putnam |year=1955 }} *{{cite book |first=Colin |last=Hodgkinson |author-link=Colin Hodgkinson (RAF officer) |title=Best Foot Forward |place=London |publisher=Odhams |year=1957 }} *{{cite book |first1=C. F. |last1=Rawnsley |author1-link=Jimmy Rawnsley |first2=Robert |last2=Wright |author2-link=Robert Wright (historian) |title=Night Fighter |location=London |publisher=Collins |year=1957 }} *{{cite book |last=Čapka |first=Jo |year=1958 |title=Red Sky at Night: the Story of Jo Čapka, DFM |place=London |publisher=Anthony Blond }} *{{cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Page |author-link=Geoffrey Page |title=Tale of a Guinea Pig |place=London |publisher=Pelham Books |year=1981 |isbn=0720713544 }} [revised edition published 1999 as ''Shot Down in Flames: a World War II fighter pilot's remarkable tale of survival''. {{ISBN|1902304101}}]
In addition, ''The Guinea Pig'' magazine regularly featured a column "How I became a Guinea Pig", in which individual members recounted their personal experiences.
===Secondary accounts=== *{{cite book |first=Julie |last=Anderson |title=War, Disability, and Rehabilitation in Britain: "Soul of a Nation" |place=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780719082504 }} *{{cite journal |first=D. R. |last=Andrew |title=The Guinea Pig Club |journal=Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine |volume=65 |issue=5 |year=1994 |pages=428–433 |pmid=8024526 }} * {{cite journal |last=Bennett |first=J. P. |title=A history of the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead |journal=British Journal of Plastic Surgery |year=1988 |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=422–40 |doi=10.1016/0007-1226(88)90088-4 |pmid=3293680 }} *{{cite book |first=Edward |last=Bishop |title=The Guinea Pig Club |place=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1963 }} *{{cite book |first=Edward |last=Bishop |title=McIndoe's Army: the story of the Guinea Pig Club and its indomitable members |place=London |publisher=Grub Street |edition=revised |year=2004 |orig-year=2001 |isbn=1904943020 }} *{{cite book |first=Vitek |last=Formánek |title=The Stories of Brave Guinea Pigs |location=Hailsham |publisher=J&KH |year=1998 |isbn=1900511843 }} *{{cite journal |first=Y. |last=Godwin |title='Time is the healer': McIndoe's Guinea Pigs fifty years on |journal=British Journal of Plastic Surgery |volume=50 |issue=2 |year=1997 |pages=88–98 |doi=10.1016/S0007-1226(97)91319-9 |pmid=9135424 }} *{{cite book |first=T. |last=Kean |title=The Story of the Guinea Pig Club, 1940–1993 |place=Lisek |year=1993 |isbn=0951809997 }} *{{cite book |first=Emily R. |last=Mayhew |title=The Reconstruction of Warriors: Archibald McIndoe, the Royal Air Force and the Guinea Pig Club |place=London |publisher=Greenhill |year=2004 |isbn=1-85367-610-1 }} [revised edition published 2018 as ''The Guinea Pig Club: Archibald McIndoe and the RAF in World War II''. {{ISBN|978-1-78438-321-3}}] *{{cite book |first=Leonard |last=Mosley |author-link=Leonard Mosley |title=Faces from the Fire: the biography of Sir Archibald McIndoe |place=London |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1962 }} *{{cite book |first1=Peter |last1=Williams |first2=Ted |last2=Harrison |title=McIndoe's Army: the injured airmen who faced the world |location=London |publisher=Pelham |year=1979 |isbn=0720711916 }}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmlCyjvl_J0 The Guinea Pig Club: Jack Toper's Story] from the BBC on YouTube * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7556326 "War Is a Helluva Teacher"] from NPR in 2006 * [http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/video-gallery/video/4595 Hilda Moore, a Canadian nursing sister recounts serving at East Grinstead] from [[Veterans Affairs Canada]] * {{cite news |first=Lucinda |last=Marland |title=The Guinea Pig Club |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=11 November 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/page/0,,1945108,00.html }}: interviews with and photographs of members of the club. * [https://www.rafbf.org/news-and-stories/category/the-guinea-pig-club The Guinea Pig Club news] from the [[RAF Benevolent Fund]]
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[[Category:1941 establishments in England]] [[Category:Patients' organizations]] [[Category:Plastic surgery organizations]] [[Category:United Kingdom in World War II]] [[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Medical and health organisations based in England]] [[Category:Oral and maxillofacial surgery organizations]] [[Category:Archibald McIndoe]] [[Category:2007 disestablishments in England]] [[Category:Members of the Guinea Pig Club| ]]