Private Deaks

Henry Tonks did a number of studies depicting servicemen both before and after their treatment by Gillies and his team at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup.

Here we meet Private Deaks, his lower jaw and mouth blown apart, his eyes betraying the reality of his situation. A 25-year-old Private in the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, he was wounded in France on the 1st of July 1916. His wounds, typical of servicemen who often took weeks to reach Aldershot or Sidcup, are clean and appear to be starting to heal spontaneously from the edges. Intelligible speech impossible and with a constant drool he is unable to keep fluids in his mouth.  Further “healing by secondary intent” would leave him grossly impaired function.

In the subsequent pastel we see him after jaw and lip reconstruction, well kempt and his outlook more upright and confident. Bearing scars, but functionally restored, he can return to normal society.