Expansion of the Queens

Not long after Gillies had established the British Section unit at the Queen’s Hospital, he suggested to the senior surgeon of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), Arbuthnot Lane, that it would be beneficial to bring any and all small allied forces units dealing with facial injuries under the same roof.  

This would concentrate resources, providing economies of scale, and enable better inter-surgeon collaboration.  In short, knowledge in the new specialty would advance more rapidly. As it happened, this appealed to the “higher-ups” for a different reason.  They had become concerned that Gillies, being only 34, was too junior to be the effective head of surgery. They were considering introducing of a more senior and experienced surgeon.

Henry Simpson Newland, an Australian, as a colonel, was senior to Gillies’ captain. He was appointed to organize moving the small Australian unit at nearby Dartford to Sidcup.  When he arrived, however, he rapidly realized Gillies’ experience and expertise was far superior to his own, and quietly advised that Gillies’ position should be left unchanged.

The Canadians already had a unit treating jaw injuries only a couple of miles away at the Ontario Hospital in Orpington, and were keen to move to take advantage of Sidcup’s expertise.  The New Zealanders, in contrast, initially resisted any move.  Their unit at Walton-on-Thames was headed by Henry Pickerill, who had qualified in medicine and dentistry in England and emigrated to New Zealand to become the first director of the University of Otago’s dental school. Three years older than Gillies and with several papers to his name he stoutly resisted his order to move, possibly because he did not wish to become second fiddle to his compatriot.  It appears that the transfer logjam was unblocked by the direct intervention of Queen Mary herself. 

The addition of the allied Dominion units added a new dimension to the unit,  and a second phase of the main hospital became necessary. New wards were built, constructed from concrete. However, whilst the other three units were content to share Sicup’s surgical facilities, Pickerill insisted on the construction of a secondary theatre block for the New Zealanders. Altogether there were 600 beds on the Sidcup site. Additionally, with Parkwood and several smaller residential buildings requisitioned locally for convalescent patients, over 1000 beds were available.

Contributor: Andrew Bamji