Time Corridor

Rehabilitation at Sidcup ?      Necklace made from cigarette packets                           BAPRAS /455 This is no ordinary necklace.  It was made using discarded cigarette packets. WW1 Soldiers...

1917

Occupational Health at the Queens Hospital

Drum Dermatome ?This is an example of a drum dermatome Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis...

1967

Harvesting skin grafts evolves

“Gillies” Needle Holders ?BAPRAS/162 Date 1950s What Is This Instrument? Manufactured by Stille of Sweden, this chrome plated needle holder was of a design by Harold Gillies. This example was owned by Harold Gillies...

1950

Gillies' personal needle holders

Tannafax for Burns ?Early Use Tannic acid was proposed as a topical treatment for burn wounds in 1925 by EC Davidson in Detroit, USA. He applied gauze dressings to burns soaked with 2.5% tannic acid as a means to...

1925

BAPRAS/735 Tube of Tannafax tannic acid manufactured by Burroughs Wellcome &Co in 1940

Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe ?MB ChB NZ, FRCS, FACS, CBE, Kt. Born 4th May 1900, Dunedin, New Zealand Died 12th April 1960. London. Early Life Archibald McIndoe, a citizen of New Zealand, came to London from the US...

1900

Introductory Biography

History of The BAPRAS Collection ?The 1980's The BAPRAS Collection started life back in April 1981 when Antony Wallace, then the Secretary of BAPS, and Maurice Kinmonth, the President, discussed the idea. Tony Wallace agreed to...

1980

History of The BAPRAS Collection

The Airman's Burn ?The Air War The second World war was the first large-scale conflict fought partly by an intense aerial campaign. Between 1940 and 1945, some 4,500 airmen were recovered from crashed aircraft. Some...

1939

Sir Harold Gillies ?Kt, CBE, FRCS Born 17th June 1882, Dunedin, New Zealand     Died 10th September 1960, London, UK. Early Life Harold Delf Gillies was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 17 June 1882, but he...

1882

Rainsford Mowlem ?

1920

Anne Bryson Sutherland ?MD, FRCS Ed Born 7th January 1922, Wellford, West Lothian, Scotland Died 27th March 2011, St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh Contributions to Plastic Surgery First female plastic...

1922

President 1987

The Salamander Logo ?Why a Salmander?                Fire Salamander Prominently depicted on all BAPRAS-related documentation and websites is a small creature sprawling in a tiny purple pool.  Often...

2006

BAPSN ?Tony Wallace, founder of our Collection and burns surgeon in Edinburgh, came up with the concept of a professional body for nurses working in Plastic Surgery and Burns in 1963. Caption...

1960

British Association of Plastic Surgery Nurses

Percy Hennell and the Dawn of Colour Photography ?BAPRAS holds a signficant Collection of photographs by Percy Hennell, a pioneer of colour photogrpahy.  Hennell photographed civilian and military patients undergoing reconstructive surgery and...

1939

Pioneering Photographer

How it started ?"What do you chaps think about forming a Plastic Club?" - Harold Gillies Early in 1944, although arguably “home” to Plastic Surgery as an organised specialty since the First World War, the UK...

1946

The "Plastic Club"

The "Chinese" flap ?This Acrylic on canvas image painted by Brian Morgan depicts an intra-operative view of a radial forearm flap being raised from its donor site. Originally proposed by Chinese surgeons, it is a...

1975

A common flap

The Salisbury Watercolour ?This deceptively simple pen and watercolour image on paper started life as a felt pen drawing. It was made on the occasion of the first meeting of a Committee put together to assemble a booklet...

1985

Hugh Phillips, PRCS ?Brian Morgan sat on the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England at the time Mr. Hugh Phillips, an Orthopaedic surgeon, was president in 2004. Every College President had an official...

2004

The "Accidental" Official Portrait

Who should be president ? ?The six-man committee of second-generation British Plastic Surgeons chosen in 1944 to develop Harold Gillies idea of putting together a “Plastic Club” had a dilemma. Who should be the first...

1946

From BAPS to BAPRAS ?Why change the name of the Association? In late 2005, BAPS became BAPRAS, the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. It was not a universally popular decision,...

2006

The Scalpel ?A plastic surgeon’s hand holds the scalpel with which they are about to make a skin incision. This evocative cast by Professor Rowan Pritchard-Jones and Consultant Prosthetist Jane McPhail at...

2013

The Skin Graft Knife ?In a scene familiar to all plastic surgeons, these casts demonstrate a surgeon’s hands holding a guarded, disposable bladed skin graft knife. He is poised to harvest a split skin graft. This...

2013

McIndoe scissors in use ?A plastic surgeon holds curved “McIndoe”-type scissors used for dissecting soft tissues. Note the correct grip with thumb and ring finger stabilised for accuracy by the index. Here, the thumb skin...

2013

David Evans Operating ?This 2011 ink and watercolour image was produced for the front cover of the Association’s winter scientific meeting in brochure that year. It was subsequently used on the front cover of the 2016...

2011

The Bonsai Cherry ?This is a pencil, ink and watercolour study of a flowering Bonsai Cherry.

2019

The BSSH Art Club ?BAPRAS isn’t the only professional surgical association to have artists within its ranks. Our partner the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, to which many plastic surgeons belong counts both...

2019

Exeter Cathedral ?Cathedrals are an enduring subject for artistic surgeons. The Collection also includes works by Association past Presidents, Harold Gillies and Brian Morgan. This pencil study of Exeter cathedral...

2022

Hand Instruments ?This simple, but effective study in pencil by James Henderson depicts the four basic plastic surgical instruments without which a hand surgeon would struggle to operate. From left to right: The...

2019

“Hescherson’s” Hands ?Hands are, naturally, objects of fascination for the surgeon involved in restoring their complex and intricate function. This gallery of hands by James sums up the fusion between his professional...

2022

Pinna ?This pencil sketch of a right external ear, or “pinna” demonstrates the often under-appreciated complexity of much visible human anatomy. An ability to accurately render the subtleties of these...

2020

The Bone Nibbler ?James’s view of one type tool used to trim the edges of bone. It is possible that he feels they are to be used sparingly in hand surgery.

2020

Tendon Transfer ?These three pencil images by James Henderson depict a standard tendon transfer procedure and are intended as an educational aid for aspiring hand surgeons. The first image shows a standard view of...

2023

Scaphoid Shift Test ?This pair of Pen and watercolour images, from 2012 depict two views of a surgeon performing a “Scaphoid Shift” test upon a patient’s left hand. Known as the “Watson manoeuvre”, it is named after...

2012

Intrinsic anatomy of the hand ?This Pen and watercolour image from 2016 depicts a cadaveric anatomical dissection demonstrating the intrinsic hand muscles. The intrinsic muscles facilitate all movements of the fingers and thumb...

2016

Depictions of the hand ?Two depictions of hands at rest and in a striking pose. The first ink and watercolour image below is of a right hand in repose is from 2016 and was used by the British Society for Surgery of the...

2016

FDS Oppositionplasty ?This 2013 ink and watercolour image was produced for the British Society for Surgery of the Hand autumn meeting programme. It depicts an intermediate stage of a tendon transfer procedure. These...

2013

Self-portrait with Loupes ?This 2013 ink and watercolour image was produced for the front cover of the BAPRAS summer scientific meeting programme. It depicts the artist between cases with a surgical mask loosely falling...

2013

Benbaun Connemara ?This oil on hardboard painting by Sir Harold Gillies is a view of Benbaun, the highest mountain in the Twelve Bens Range in the Connemara National Park, Ireland. The precise date of this rather...

1954

Kanchenjunga, India ?This oil on board painting by Sir Harold Gillies depicts sunrise on Kanchenjunga. The third highest mountain in the world at 8,586 m, sits in the Northeast Indian Himalaya on the border between...

1958

“Mount Margaret “From Wilson Point, India ?This oil on hardboard painting by Sir Harold Gillies a view of what is described by Gillies, and the plaque on the frame of this work as “Mount Margaret”. It is painted from Wilson Point, in...

1957

Salisbury Cathedral ?This Oil on art board work is a view of Salisbury Cathedral. The ornate guilt frame in which this painting hangs has a small plaque with a date of 1953. The rear of the frame bears a block print of...

1953

Wilson Point View, India ?This oil on hardboard painting by Sir Harold Gillies is of the view from Wilson point, at Mahabaleshwar, a hill station and now popular tourist resort 75 miles from Pune in India. It is believed to...

1956

Orpen's Skull ?  At the Slade School of art Henry Tonks taught Orpen to focus upon anatomy as a route to perfecting drawings of the human form. Here, in a departure from her normal clinical subject matter,...

1942

Orpen Caricatures ?During her time at Hill End Hospital, Diana (Dickie) Orpen had plenty of time to become familiar with the personalities and traits amongst the staff. She would use any spare time and her wry sense of...

1943

Theatre Scene ?This pastel by Diana (Dickie) Orpen depicts a typical theatre scene at Hill End Hospital during the second world war. It demonstrates that her talents were wider than purely producing technical...

1945

Tonks the man ?Henry Tonks was the first, and perhaps most significant, of the early systematic Illustrators of record associated with plastic surgery.                       Portrait of the Artist    ...

1862

Orpen On Tonks ?Diana Orpen, known to all as “Dickie” became the artist in residence working for Plastic surgeon Rainsford Mowlem during the second world war at Hill End Hospital St Albans. Her tutor and mentor was...

1929

"Where is the Orpen Child?"

Orpen on Tonk's Pastels ?It was only just before Henry Tonk’s death in 1936 that Dickie Orpen became aware of the works that her teacher and mentor had been doing for Harold Gillies at Sidcup during the 1914 to 18...

1936

Dickie discovers her mentor's masterpieces

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...

1916

- Before and After

Private Suave ?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 is Private Suave. The name Tonks has...

1917

-Before and after

Gillies and his team ?Whilst at Sidcup, Henry Tonks did not confine himself to illustrating the innovative plastic surgery procedures being undertaken on the servicemen admitted there.    Tonks was also in the...

1917

Corporal Buckets Revenge ?A rather harassed and portly male operating theatre orderly called “Corporal Bucket” is the subject of many Orpen cartoons.  He is variously drawn adjusting lights, holding a child’s legs on the...

1940

Orpen Cartoons ?Diana (Dickie) Orpen spent long periods in the operating theatres at Hill End Hospital and became an acute observer of the activities and personalities. She would occasionally give voice to these...

1943

Long Ago at The Slade ?On October 24, 1956 a piece appeared in The Times newspaper with this headline and under the byline of “a correspondent”.  Its was subtitled “Learning to draw whilst Tonks looked over your...

1956

Diana “Dickie” Orpen – Surgeon’s Artist ?The Orpen Archive of drawings within the BAPRAS Collection excites much interest, chiefly amongst artists themselves. Orpen’s works represent exquisite and evocative examples of life art. They...

2008

The Exhibitions 2008-2009.

The Orpen Archive ?The Collection holds a very significant body of work by artist and medical illustrator Diana "dickie" Orpen.BAPRAS possesses over 2,500 of the many technical illustrations, cartoons and pastel images...

1942

Tonks' Art ?Henry Tonks was not only notable for having illustrated Harold Gillies’ work during the First World War. He was an artist of some renown even before that conflict. It was on a trip to Dresden...

1893

Tonks Illustration Case 1 ?In this case (image 1), Tonks has made a pencil drawing in theatre, then overlain with ink in three colours.                        Image 1 It illustrates the soldier in image 2,...

1916

Tonks Illustration Case 2 ? Image 1 - click to enlarge Image 1 is a reproduction from an original servicemen’s record into which Tonks’ diagram of one procedure has been inserted in order to explain what had been...

1916

Tonks Illustration Case 3 ? Image 1 - Click to expand  This case demonstrates the use if three media to capture the process of treating this soldier. Image 1 reproduces a page from Gillies 1920 textbook...

1920

Tonks Illustration Case 4 ?This Private in the 2nd Lincoln Regiment lost his nose, left eye and eyelid to a gunshot. There was great tissue destruction.   The two images here depict a series of Tonks drawings in pencil,...

1917

Gillies' Tankard ?In April 1953 BAPS decided to honour its founding President, Sir Harold Gillies’ 70th Birthday by organising a banquet and presenting him with a commemorative tankard.               ...

1953

Object BAPRAS/794

Lewis Bust ?This bronze bust from 1960 is of Plastic Surgeon Emlyn Lewis, by his son in law, noted sculptor and artist, Barry Flanagan. Lewis was a member of the provisional committee, a group of...

1960

BAPRAS /754

The Coleman-Ladd Mask ?The Coleman Ladd mask consists of a painted image upon a thin galvanised copper sheet measuring some 155mm wide, 100mm high and 120mm from front to back.   Reverse view of the Ladd Mask...

1917

BAPRAS/425

Anna Coleman Ladd ?Anna Coleman Ladd (nee Watts), an accomplished American sculptor from Manchester, Massachusetts, began working for the Red Cross in the U.S. during the first world war.                 ...

1878

The artist behind the masks

Sir Harold Gillies ?

1946

President 1946-47

Professor Thomas Pomfret Kilner ?

1947

President 1947-48, 1955

SirArchibald McIndoe ?

1949

President 1949

Rainsford Mowlem ?

1950

President 1950, 1959

Antony Wallace ?

1951

President 1951, 1963

What should we call it? ?Following Harold Gillies suggestion at Hill End Hospital that a “plastic club” be formed, Archie McIndoe proposed that the first move was appointing a provisional committee from the younger...

1944

BAPS: The First Forty Years ?An expanded history of the Association from its origins. Produced in 1987 and edited by the Archive's founder and first Curator Antony F Wallace. Click on the icon to download.  

1946

From BAPS to BAPRAS ?An expanded history of the Association's transformation from BAPS to BAPRAS Edited by former Archivist Roger Green, in 2016 on the occasion of the Association changing its name. Click on the...

1987

The Visits ?The “The British Microsurgical Travellers Club” made trips to six units in five countries. Surgeons and Units Visited Ljubljana- Marco Godina.  Hamburg - Dieter Buck...

1978

Units and surgeons visited

Not Just Work! ?No semi-formal trip to visit colleagues abroad can be all work and no play.  The hosts organized social events alongside the more academic programme. It is a tradition upheld by most academic...

1978

The Social Programme

SRTC Meetings ?For their participants, Senior Registrar Travelling Club (SRTC) meetings were highly prized learning opportunities away from their base units. Until the mid 1990s senior trainees were tied to...

1971

“Always had a very academic profile”

Percy H Jayes ?

1960

President 1960

G H Morley ?

1961

President 1961

Joseph P Reidy ?

1962

President 1962

Eric Preet ?

1964

President 1964

Sir Benjamin Rank ?

1965

President 1965

G M Fitzgibbon ?

1966

President 1966

Fenton Braithwaite ?

1968

President 1968

John Watson ?

1969

President 1969

Tom Gibson ?

1970

President 1970

Raoul Sandon ?

1972

President 1972

Dennis Bodenham ?

1973

1973

Richard Dawson ?

1974

President 1974

Richard J V Battle ?

1952

President 1952, 1967

John N Barron ?

1953

President 1953, 1975

David Matthews ?

1954

President 1954, 1971

Wilfred Hynes ?

1956

President 1956

Rowland P Osborne ?

1957

President 1957

J S Tough ?

1958

President 1958

Stewart H Harrison ?

1976

1976

Norman C Hughes ?

1977

President 1977

A Campbell Buchan ?

1978

President 1978

Ian A McGregor ?

1979

President 1979

R T Routledge ?

1980

President 1980

Maurice H Kinmonth ?

1981

President 1981

Ian F K Muir ?

1982

President 1982

Thomas L Barclay ?

1983

President 1983

Michael N Tempest ?

1984

President 1984

Ivor W Broomhead ?

1985

President 1985

David O Maisels ?

1986

President 1986

Hugh G Brown ?

1988

President 1988

Ronald W Hiles ?

1989

President 1989

John Colville ?

1990

President 1990

Antony C H Watson ?

1991

President 1991

William H Reid ?

1992

President 1992

Professor Roy Sanders ?

1993

President 1993

Philip J Sykes ?

1994

President 1994

Magdy N Saad ?

1995

President 1995

Timothy M Milward ?

1996

President 1996

Brian D G Morgan ?

1997

President 1997

Brian C Sommerlad ?

1998

President 1998

Alan G Leonard ?

1999

President 1999

Douglas S Murray ?

2000

President 2000

David S Soutar ?

2001

President 2001

Michael D Brough ?

2002

President 2002

Martin A P Milling ?

2003

President 2003

Professor Michael J Earley ?

2004

President 2004

Christopher TK Khoo ?

2005

President 2005

Robert E Page ?

2006

President 2006

Christopher C Walker ?

2007

President 2007

Roger Green ?

2008

President 2008

Professor Simon P J Kay ?

2009

President 2009

Eric Freedlander ?

2010

President 2010

Timothy E E Goodacre ?

2011

2011

Richard H Milner ?

2012

President 2012

Graeme B Perks ?

2013

President 2013-2014

Nigel S G Mercer ?

2015

President 2015 - 2016

David J Ward ?

2017

President 2017-2018

Mark Henley ?

2019

President 2019 - 2020

Ruth Waters ?

2021

President 2021 - 2022

Maniram Ragbir ?

2023

President 2023 - 2024

"Manu Sciente" ?What is the meaning of the elements making up the Association’s Arms? The Arms comprise a Shield, with two figures either side (“supporters”), a crest, badge and motto. An official description of...

1952

Interpreting the Arms

Conserving the Arms ?By late 2022, some 50 years after its creation, the original arms document, required some maintenance conservation. Libby Gavin, the Heritage-trained Collections Officer at the time, recognised...

2022

Preserving the velum document

Creating the Journal ?“Wally, I think you are the only person in our Association to start a journal.” -Harold Gillies The idea for a periodical of plastic surgery was not an invention of BAPS. At the end of 1918,...

1948

The Official BAPS Scientific Publication

Why Have A Journal? ?The first issue of the British Journal of Plastic Surgery (BJPS) appeared in March 1948. From the start, the Journal’s objectives, as guided by its Editorial Committee, were to advance education...

1948

From BJPS to JPRAS ?In 2006 the British Journal of Plastic Surgery (BJPS) became JPRAS, the Journal of Reconstructive, Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery.  Its revised focus was summarised in the subtitle “An...

2006

The Journal Reborn

What is a Split Skin Graft? ?A split skin graft (SSG), also known as a split-thickness skin graft (STSG), is a plastic surgical technique used to cover and promote healing of wounds or damaged areas of skin.  Why...

1873

What is a Full Thickness Skin Graft? ?What is a full thickness skin graft? A full thickness skin graft (FTSG) is another type of skin grafting procedure, distinct from a split thickness skin graft (STSG).  Why “Full...

1870

Plastic Surgery of the Face ?In 1920 Harold Gillies published “Plastic Surgery of the Face”, a seminal textbook outlining his principles of plastic surgery. The book was a dissemination of his work and the pioneering...

1920

Gillies Landmark Work

Lists of Harold Gillies Books and Papers ?Lists Prepared by Dr Andrew Bamji, BAPRAS Gillies Archivist Books By Gillies Gillies, H.D., Plastic Surgery of the Face: Based on Selected Cases of War Injuries of the Face Including...

1920

Books and papers by and about Harold Gillies

Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery ?The Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery, was Gillies second textbook, published in 1957 by Butterworth and Co. Co-authored with American Plastic Surgeon Dr. D. Ralph Millard, in two volumes...

1957

John Law Aymard ?John Law Aymard was an English surgeon, born in Dagenham in 1865 who practiced in Ipswich before going to South Africa to gain experience in conflict surgery during the second Boer war of 1899 to...

1865

Sidcup's Nursing staff -what we know ?While much is known about the surgical and medical staff at Sidcup, there is almost no information about the nursing and other ancillary staff.   There is not even a list of the nurses. A partial...

1917

75 in 75 ?A timeline of key events in the history of the Association, assembled as A Part of our 75th anniversary celebrations in December 2021. Click on the first image below to view the...

1946

A timeline for the Association's 75th anniversary

Gillies and the Royal Air Force ?It is a common misconception that burns surgery was invented by Archibald McIndoe on his “Guinea Pigs”at East Grinstead during the second world war. The Guinea Pig Club gained great fame thanks to...

1917

Design and Construction ?At a time of national crisis, from conception to construction of the hospital took mere months over the course of 1917.   Hayward and Maynard's Arichitectural Drawing The grounds of...

1917

Achieved at speed

Moving to Sidcup ?The conventional story about the instigation of the Sidcup unit was that it became necessary because of the volume of cases being received at Aldershot, particularly after the Battle of the Somme....

1917

Planned or Forced?

Harvesting a split skin graft ?This acrylic on canvas image painted by Brian Morgan is an intraoperative view depicting the harvest of a split skin graft. This is an oft repeated scene in a plastic surgical theatre. It is one...

1980

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...

1918

Why and how did The Queens Expand?

Reverdin Pinch Grafting Scissors ?BAPRAS/738 – Reverdin Example Date 1870 -1880 What Is This Instrument? This is an example of the first instrument designed to successfully take a skin graft.  Swiss surgeon Jacques Louis...

1870

McIndoe's personal life ?Archie McIndoe, known to his family as “Nookie” was born the second of four children to John and Mable McIndoe, in Dunedin, New Zealand. McIndoe was a second generation New Zealander, with roots...

1900

McIndoe's path to plastic surgery ?Archibald Hector McIndoe never intended to become a plastic surgeon.  He graduated from Otago University, New Zealand, MBCHB in1923, becoming house surgeon at Waitako Hospital in Hamilton in 1924....

1923

His pre-war professional life

McIndoe - World War 2 and beyond ?"A nice little hospital on the edge of a nice little town" - Sir Archibald McIndoe The Second World War On the 11th of June 1938 as war clouds gathered, and at the behest of Sir Harold...

1939

His later professional life

Lady Gillies ?Marjorie Clayton had been Harold Gillies long-time theatre sister.  Lady Gillies in theatre uniform during a trip to India in 1959. With her is surgeon Paul Brand She met him when...

1930

Marjorie Clayton

Golf ?Gillies became nationally famous as much for his influence on the game of golf as for his pioneering surgery. He became a golf obsessive whilst at Cambridge University. Almost by accident he...

1910

Prof. Thomas Pomfret Kilner ?Born 17th September 1890, Lancashire, UK Died 2nd July 1964 CONTRIBUTIONS TO PLASTIC SURGERY One of four plastic surgeons (known as “The Big Four) practicing in the UK at the start...

1890