A Fate Worse Than Death - Disfigured Veterans of World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR Special
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2024
- Filmed at Romagne 14-18 museum: romagne14-18.com
Plastic and reconstructive surgery saw rapid development during World War 1. Modern medical care and better equipment increased the chances of survival for the soldiers. But these survivors were often disfigured or lost limbs as a result. To help them return to a somewhat normal life, reconstructive surgeons developed methods to restore their faces and aided them with prosthetics.
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Videos: British Pathé
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Literature (excerpt):
Gilbert, Martin. The First World War. A Complete History, Holt Paperbacks, 2004.
Hart, Peter. The Great War. A Combat History of the First World War, Oxford University Press, 2013.
Hart, Peter. The Great War. 1914-1918, Profile Books, 2013.
Stone, Norman. World War One. A Short History, Penguin, 2008.
Keegan, John. The First World War, Vintage, 2000.
Hastings, Max. Catastrophe 1914. Europe Goes To War, Knopf, 2013.
Hirschfeld, Gerhard. Enzyklopädie Erster Weltkrieg, Schöningh Paderborn, 2004
Michalka, Wolfgang. Der Erste Weltkrieg. Wirkung, Wahrnehmung, Analyse, Seehamer Verlag GmbH, 2000
Leonhard, Jörn. Die Büchse der Pandora: Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges, C.H. Beck, 2014
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This pictures are horrifying... Poor men for Christ sake. That bit about children being scared of their fathers broke me
ArgieGrit01 It's enough to make the mentally strong broken
Kids get used to things easily though. They adapt easily. I was scared and cried when my dad shaved his moustache off when I was a child. But I got used to it and then he grew it back.
Chorizoflex 2929 I know it isn’t the same. But I’m saying kids usually get used to things like this. I know from experience. I broke my eye socket and was left blind in my right eye and at first my cousins were freaked out but they’ve gotten used to it now. Don’t tell me about disfigurement when you haven’t experienced it yourself.
My Art Page It is the same with great disabilities. A large percentage of ordinary people have great compassion built in to them but coming across some jackass who will spit in your face because you get in his way leaves an indelible memory. And yes it happened to me. All the best to you and there is a quotation from Gus Grissom the astronaut may help a little. "Maintain an even strain" when things get difficult.Cheers.
@@ineffablemars imagine though your dad's gone for 4-5 year's and he comes back disfigured! Kid's were different back then they weren't so exposed to blood and gore like today's youth is today via violent video game's. It would be long adjustment period.
In France we call them "gueules cassées", the broken faces. Such a tragic fate for those who survived the war only to die socially...
May we never forget them, all of them.
Broken faces with a broken fate... and all too often forgotten in shame. They did not deserve that.
+PL They were treated as an embarrassment by the societies they represented in battle. It was more comfortable for a lot (not all) people to believe that the only casualties of the war were the ones who died in battle. Those people could not accept that soldiers were still suffering on their behalf.
@@zacmumblethunder7466 Similar conduct are still seen today. How many US veterans are living in the streets ?
And for how long PTSD was not reckognized by the marine corps ?
To many and too long.
@@PL-kt2hi For whom was the mask made? For society or the broken men?
@@cosmicwakes6443 Both
The idea of scaring your own children with your appearance hurts my soul in a deep place. The people who made these prosthetics were absolute saints. Allowing these men to return to normal life was an incredibly noble task.
Hard to watch but makes one grateful for what we have.
Planet 9 in the next 100 years, our grandchildren would thought the same thing just like yourself when they see our civilization
Hopefully you are right. Or we could be going the other direction, down.
Planet 9 plain truth, straight to the point
Same
I am just recovering from plastic surgery that fixed a birth defect. I am truly thankful for these early pioneers. And my empathy is strongly effected by those soldiers who had to suffer for their countries.
Glad to hear it all worked out for you.
I hope that the surgery works out for you!
How is it going so far?
It is going well thank you. Luckily Finland has a great medical system.
MsDjessa moi.
Shell Shock Moi Moi
No war is worth this carnage
Peadar McMahon Ya
Peadar McMahon
Wars that liberate countries do.
+Peadar McMahon Thanks to this war many nations were finally liberated and many rotten ones fell
This war was the opening act in an even larger war... I'm not convinced the assassination of one man was worth the cost of two world wars.
Yes, war is horrifying, filled with carnage and suffering. But, sometimes, it is worth it. WW2 might have been avoided if the British and French were willing to fight Hitler long before they actually did. There might have been some fighting then, but not nearly as much as when it really did happen.
I would mention also Dr Atanasije Pulja, Serbian dentist and maxulinefacial surgeon, who repaired lot of Serbian soliders jaws and lower part of faces, with some techniques that he invented. He had very tragic fate, as he survived whole WWII in Belgrade unharmed, but on the day of liberation of Belgrade from Nazies, in October 1944, he came on streets of Belgrade to cheer and celebrate, just to be accidently run over and killed by Red Army truck.
afghaaj Wow the last part... he was very unlucky.
Not unlucky. Just dumb. You should be always careful regarding your surroundings..
+Solaxe S
Nobody is prepared for Russian driving, not even any Russians.
Thank you, afghaaj, for acquainting me with Dr Atanasije Pulja, Serbian dentist and maxulinefacial surgeon. Some of us hurt, some help, and most sit by and watch. May his example show us sitters how we may become helpers!
Griffin Anderson You are welcome.
Viewer Discretion. In a channel that covers perhaps the most brutal war in modern history, that carries some weight.
Yeah, we felt it hits home in a different way than seeing a dead body from afar.
Toby Wood WWII was worse
Your feelings were spot on. Great job with this one. Well, all your episodes are excellent but this one really shines. Great treatment. Very well handling of a difficult topic.
MrRenegadeshinobi
Actually,, if you take world population into account... And the flu... And the conditions of the trenches... And the use of gas...
Toby Wood No that is ww2
There truly is a time when death is the greater mercy. These men lived harder lives than I can bring myself to imagine. For those who lived with these scars until their natural deaths I have the highest regard; for those who took their own lives as a result...I pass no judgement.
+maxsmodels Absolutely no one can judge these people in a moral sense. Maybe someone who also lived through it but he wouldn't dare trying probably.
I lost 1/2 my left arm and my left foot from an accident when I was 9 years old. I understand the struggle of trying to fit in to society; Employment, relationships, etc. This episode was very informative and at the same time shows the painful reality of war.
:(
if i may ask? what happened? and it's fine if it's personal it's your issue and i don't mean to bring out memories of bad times.
Stay strong
ryan weidman I was electrocuted in a substation, There was an opening on top of the fence, I then climbed over because I saw some tools and accidentally touched something that gave me a shock of 16,000 volts. Most foolish thing I've ever done.
Jesus man stay strong
As a former soldier I worried about this subject should I get wounded in battle. Fortunately, that never happened to me, but I found this subject very interesting and informative. It's one of the better uses of UA-cam as opposed to so many of the frivolous and useless videos. Thank you for your caring and compassion.
It’s one of the things that makes me not want to be in the military. I feel like I would be better off being a police officer but that can cause some emotional damage too
Late reply, but being a police officer isn't much safer in today's society.
Nothing like pulling someone over to tell them one of their tires seem to be flat, only to be greeted with a face full of buckshot.
@@psychosalad6653 Yeah, when I was in the police academy we saw a movie about survival, having the mental strength and an attitude of survival... it really presses the point home when you see a police officer laying on the sidewalk, with a *flesh wound* in the arm who basically just laid down and died... he had "convinced himself" that if he were ever shot, he would die. He got shot in the arm (not a severe wound) and basically gave himself a heart attack or something and literally keeled over and died on the spot.
There was another officer in the video to show the counterpoint to that... He was sitting in his patrol car one night doing paperwork while monitoring the speed radar and a mentally deranged guy he had arrested a few days earlier walked up to his car, whipped out a shotgun, and shot him point blank in the face with a 12 gauge shotgun slug. It basically destroyed everything from his eye sockets down, but he survived, because it didn't damage his actual upper skull (braincase). His lower jaw was blown to pieces and in fact his molars were embedded in his arms and had to be removed surgically. They showed photos of him in the hospital and basically everything below his eyes was just gone. They did reconstructive surgery on him, to the extent possible, and although he's totally blind (the blast damaged his optic nerves to the brain) and he has to eat by mashing his food against a couple of surviving molars on the back right side of his upper jaw, which is all that was left of his upper and lower jaws. He has no lower jaw so he cannot chew, and the facial reconstruction is mostly cosmetic and to allow breathing and eating. BUT, he survived, and his wife stuck by him.
Just goes to show the importance of a positive attitude and the WILL to survive...
Later! OL J R :)
@@caelodevorago608 Yes... kids and teens nowdays are the worst... When I was in the police academy, one of my instructors (who'd taken a bullet to the face and lost an eye as a result-- he'd had reconstructive surgery but his skull wasn't "quite right" and he had a glass eye on his left side) put it this way-- "I'm less afraid of a 40 year old ex-con who's been in and out of jail his entire life than I am of some of these teenagers... a 40 year old ex-con, he knows the inning and the score, and he knows what will happen if he gets caught or goes back to jail, and most of them just take it with the territory-- and the realize when they're caught, they're caught, and trying to kill you will only make it worse for them... BUT, these teenagers, nowdays, they'll kill you just to see what it looks like and see how it makes them feel... They'll kill you just for kicks..."
Later! OL J R :)
luke strawwalker wow, pretty cool
Thank you for doing a very difficult, very interesting and very acute subject justice - As always.
Paul Cate "great" as in the great war
Michael Ainslie god bless these poor men, it's impossible to ever conceive what was going on in their minds when these things happened to them. It really gets you to appreciate the fleetingness of life and how fragile it is.
And hope that no one should ever have to suffer like that again.
Yes. I agree. It is one of the best empisodes.
Michael Ainslie unfortunately people are suffering in wars still.
My great grand uncle was actually a patient of Dr. Gillies and even though he ended up still needing a mask for going out he spoke very Highly of the doctor and his staff until he passed away. Thank you so much for your video!
Nothing tells you *avoid war* more than googling ww1 facial reconstruction photos.
Filips Van Montmorency quite a terrible position that millions have been put it. You have to respect those who answered that call and went to fight however.
If you are willing to expose yourself to the suffering, I recommend you to watch this video about child-victims in the vietnam war: ua-cam.com/video/SH40GF4avYU/v-deo.html (german only, unfortunate)
I was born with a fairly severe facial deformity that has required lots of surgeries all through my life to try and remedy it, and as you can imagine, this video hits close to home. It's kind of comforting and humbling at the same time. I'm lucky I got off as easy as I did compared to a lot of these guys, and have had the privilege of being born in a time with more advanced techniques thanks to their sacrifice. Thank you so much for this special.
Jesus, it's stuff like this that reminds you why this is called "The Lost Generation."
TheOtherWhiteBread0 how so
Matt Lipton Many also has to face excruciating groin injuries, so they lost also their sexuality.
They are officially known today as the "Great generation" there is a video on generations starting with 1900-1925 through to 2016.
@@julz3tt3 the greatest generation is the generation that fought in the Second World War. The generation that fought in the First World War we called the lost generation
It's so sad seeing these poor men who fought and were injured for their country and then not being ever able to have a normal life again back home for many.
Oh... This was a lot harder to watch than i thought.
Neko Linkedo I felt nothing, sorry.
This video was more fascinating than disturbing for me.
It bored me
I don't know how these people mustered the strength to continue on. The horrors they faced just to bring the horror and live with it everyday. I never realized it until i saw Richard Harrow in boardwalk empire.
danekarl Too much Pride and they all wanted to pave their countries for a brighter future.
People seemed to have been so much stronger back then than today (mentally and physically)
It was the "outside world" that provided them with hospitals, surgery, masks, etc., disability pay, and hopefully, for at least some of them, jobs. Nobody lives in a bubble.
The quality of this channel keeps getting better and please don't shy away from doing more episodes over the heavier type of topics, like this one. Keep up the great work!
Jan Lucas Videvik as long he does it with the respect that the subject needs it can be very tastefull,? (For no better words) to make fid's like this
Strawman I think the word your looking for is tactful. and I agree this episode hits the top of my list because of the way it is presented.
When I was 20 (30 years ago) I broke all the bones in my face on a motorcycle. Some of them very badly.
The surgery allowed amazing results and today looks very natural except where there is scaring. Fantastic things these surgeons do.
This was amazing. I know not many people can do the job I do, I work with wounds...What amazes me, is the fact these men SURVIVED!! This was before antibiotics, and they were in trenches! Wow, the surgeries may have been crude by todays standards, the results were outstanding for what the Surgeons had to work with.
You really humanized those poor souls. Kudos to you.
Harold Gillies should have been given a Nobel peace prize for his outstanding breakthrough techniques. Thanks for this video, I was just reading about Mr. Gillies a few days ago. Glad you added this to your great deal of awesome content.
I saw an exhibition about this subject a few years ago in London. The suffering these poor men went through. Can you imagine lying on the battlefield horribly injured and surviving long enough to reach a medical station, then undergoing painful treatment without antibiotics? Incredible work by the surgeons, nursing staff and the artists who created the masks to allow some normality. I remember the horrified hush of young people looking at the photographs and I shed a few tears myself as I left. Pity mixed with fierce pride in our soldiers fighting to protect us at home. Never forgotten.
Just wanted to add to this that we are having our Centenary remembrance for WW1 this year in the UK so some more about the men with facial injuries. One chap who survived was actually given a job as a porter in the hospital. They gave him a room in the grounds and he only did the night shift. He said that he didnt like the stares and pitying looks from civilians but he didnt mind children as they seemed to accept him. Most of his face had been shot away but they had given him a semblance of a face. It appears that with the help of the masks, many did return to work and carry on life with their families. Im not in agreement with some here that think they should have gone back and got themselves killed rather than cope with the disfigurement. It was the civilians that couldnt cope with these men. When the war ended, people didnt want to be reminded of it. They had, had enough and lost too many people. Seeing the war wounded was painful for them. The promise of a "Land fit for hero's" never happened. Glad to know that the wounded soldier's stories are being heard by the nation that owed them so much.
these surgeons were also heroes
I've had facial plastic surgery and now feel personally thankful to this generation. Thank you for posting this video.
Had tears my eyes at the end of this video. Great stuff !!!!
same, its so sad that these people had to go through that
It aches my heart to think that some of those men who had sacrificed so much for their country, would return to the peace of home just to dumped by their wives, friends and kids for something they had no control over.
Without a doubt the best most compassionately put together special episode you and your team have done. As a relatively young man in the construction industry I've seen facial/eye injuries and the effects they have on normally outgoing colleagues. As you say there's a lot more to a face than just the obvious.
The Great War is among the very best and comprehensive documentary channels on UA-cam and this is truly one of the most poignant segments
I was scared of this history as a child.But now my heart goes out to these men.
Let us never forget their bravery.....
Very respectfully done. I tip my hat to you sirs!
Tomáš Berecz ikr
This was surprisingly uplifting--true, these men suffered terribly, but great strides were made to help them
Great episode, reminds me of a story related to me by my uncle who's father took him to a section of San Francisco where the disfigured WW1 vets lived away from the public. Many wore the mentioned masks and some rode on trolleys propelled by their arms, their legs being blown off. He was just a boy at the time but it made a deeply lasting impression on him, both on war itself and how society views people that aren't "perfect".
Big applause to you all for showing what facial wounds look like and the steps they took early on to help fix these "broken gargoyles". It's impressive that they multiple surgeries back then with no antibiotics and most of all that these men survived those wounds.
+Todd C It is said that medicine never again made such progress in these four years.
As a member of "les Gueules cassées" I truly applause you did a whole episode on face mutilation in WW1. Thank you very much Indy and team, take care.
If I were them, I would had probably requested to be sent back to the frontline and hoping to die in battle. If I couldn't lead a normal life back in my home country, perhaps I could die with dignity as a fighting warrior.
There was a similar practice in Medieval times. People with extreme facial disfigure (who were mostly Leper survivors) would usually work as some sort of shock troops that fights in close combat because their faces by themselves would damage the enemy morale.
Zamnil Mattockwaz wow really, that is quite interesting to be honest how they used them as both shock troops and psychological attack
Harun Suaidi well said,I rather die with honor then being shamed from stares
So that's where the inspiration for plague monks from Warhammer fantasy came from.
Harun Suaidi EDGY
I can’t even imagined be what is like to see your dad or someone you love come form the war and look like one of these poor souls.
cant even imagine how difficult, how hard was it for these poor men. war is hell :(
Excellent video. It was a real emotional sledgehammer though. How can we do these things to each other? To think that after all these monstrosities, there were people who wanted to plunged the world into war again. Utter madness. Thank you The Great War team. Humanity should never forget what depths it can sink to.
Should be mandatory viewing in public education imho.
Kind of like the anti-drug campaigns, it makes people much less suspectible to pro-war propaganda
Every warmonger should see it.
Sometimes war is necessary.
If it wasn't for first world war I would probably speak Russian or German now. What pisses me off is that poets and politicians like to speak about "shed blood" but they avoid the topic of sawed off limbs and messed up faces.
Marek Suma the Russians were in the entente....
YES
to serve your country and to suffer such an injury to come back and be alone and isolated damn shame
Feeling sick. "A fate worse than death" - spot on. Death is final, and to me not very "scary". But living without life, that's an alltogether worse proposition. Glad that this was covered - still feel sick tho' :D
It was not easy to make this episode but we felt it was necessary.
death is not final dude is just a transition a soul is imortal it won´t die
That was a difficult video to watch, I will admit. In pretty much all the classes I'd ever taken, either in high school or even in college, it was barely mentioned (let alone shown) how horrific some of the injuries were back then. Amputees, yes, but I can't recall anything as the facial trauma faced by those souls.
Either way, thank you for this enlightening video. This was definitely modern war.
Padawanmage71 From what I remember of WW1 lessons in school nothing like this was even touched on. This video was sobering. Another thing that shook me was when I have been to WW1 and WW2 cemeteries and seeing the ages on the gravestones, some of them weren't much older than I was at the time.
is this the first viewer discretion video?
+Damminh Khoi yes.
The Great War my great grandfather fought in WW1 In the US NY NG 27th Infantry division Please Do a video on that please
Well there has been a lot of dark and disturbing stuff - it IS world war 1 - but in this episode the pictures shown are much more graphic than before. That's what the warning was about.
Lock3003 AKA Commander Danse They cant do a video about everyone.
The thing is that it's 1 thing for someone to tell that in this battle 10 000 people lost their lives and twice that much got wounded, it's impersonal. It's totally a different thing to see someone who has had literally half his face blown off, it makes those (for a lack of a better word) faceless masses not be so faceless anymore.
Not an easy video to watch, but a very important topic. You're to be commended for covering it.
I recently found out my great grandfather was treated at sidcup by Gillies. He was shot in the jaw at the Somme and had to travel for 3 days in a sick convoy with his face blown open before he was treated for his maxilla mandible (upper and lower jaw) left side. He was only 18.
Did a research paper partially on this, was mostly on the advancement of medical treatment during and after WW1. I know there was a mention of field medics at one point but I'd love to see a more in depth look on the subject. Such things as the evolution of the US Army Nurse Corps, treatment techniques, and movement/sorting of casualties.
I used to be a Corpsman as well, I've always had a bit of an interest in medicine and medical history.
+RustyRuss001 Next Monday
Awesome, good to hear.
In my opinion this is the best video TGW has ever posted.
Thanks.
My great grandfather, fought on the eastern front during ww1. A piece of shrapnel injured the left side of his face. In all the family photos he only showed the right side of his face, I was shocked when I saw his old I.D. It was the first time I saw his injuries because photos for the I.D. have to be taken from the front.
If we ever needed a Public Service Announcement showing why War is Evil, this is definitely it.
You're so respectful to the source material and history. Thank you for your well spoken commentary
May all the men who suffered these despicable fates and those who sought to repair the absolutely broken Rest In Peace.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Everyone thinks of cosmetic issues when it comes to facial injuries, but just as significant, if not more so are the practical functions the face serves. Lips, eyelids, teeth, etc very specialized for function. So it’s not just ‘Oh, you’re gonna look scary.’
The humanity! The humanity! Indy, it took courage to do this episode. Thank you! But how much courage did it require for Dr. Gillies to look at those human wrecks and see how, five or ten surgeries down the line, these men might be made half-whole again! And how much courage and suffering was required of those unfortunates who had to undergo those five or ten surgeries, in the hopes that they might regain even a part of what had been taken from them! We are wonderful! We are awful! We are wonderful! We are awful!
So sweet that you guys went to Romange. I went there when I was in high school and to the same museum I recon. The curator was an old pal of my history teacher. I remember we needed to storm up a hill American troops needed to take during the last days of the war, it was really tough but then the teacher explained that the troops who made it to the top where whistled back because of the men lost. In short, truly eye opening.
Jean-Paul was really cool and that sounds like a great school trip.
You guys should be nominated for the Oscars, best channel I have seen, blistering episode.
this vid was very thoughtful and brutally honest. the thought of your own child running away from you, terrified of a monster; is heartbreaking.
I always have high praise for Drs, especially surgeons. I think there early Drs don't get the credit they deserve. They did so much with so little, compared to now. Truly amazing
I'm not pacifist, but seeing stuff like this makes me want to avoid war at all costs.
I don't watch UA-cam, I watch the great war. Thanks for all the hard work on these topics. I'd elaborate but I'm still in class.
Hey Indy thanks for tackling a really difficult part of the Great War. I have tears in my eyes for all those that suffered. When I was a lad we had a chap living across the road from our mum's shop, he was callled Mr. Yeates, blinded in one eye from shrapnel and gassed at Ypres. A more gentle man you could not wish to meet. He was one of many on both sides. Peace out brother
These people are amazing. While they certainly are not the only ones, I would not dare to hesitate in calling them heroes/heroines. With so much death and destruction, humanity's will to empathize, care, and develop has caused a form of subsistence and normalcy for all those who entered and survived the sacrifice/injustice of WW1. I am really thankful for teaching the UA-cam community of something so fascinating yet heart aching.
Much thanks.
I've seen this before. it's horrible & wonderful at the same time. It's impossible to imagine what people went through during this time.
These are some of the hardest photos to look at. They evoke both feelings of sadness and horror, and a whole slew of other nasty emotions.. but at the same time they're extremely sobering. They show that even the men who survived the war were adversely affected by it for the rest of their lives.. which is honestly, heart-wrenching.
This is one of two episodes that have literally brought tears to my eyes (the other one being the 'companions in the trenches' episode, specially the part about consoling dying soldiers). Usually episodes are either mildly comical (Albania episode), depressing (New Years) or exciting (most episodes, though they are all a bit depressing)... but this one, and the Companions are painful, but in a good way. Makes you feel like a human after listening to "X thousands were killed and wounded" yet again without flinching.
Came for the information, stayed for the gutshots.
First video with a viewer discretion warning. You've truly gone big time!
An amazing episode. I had no idea that reconstructive surgery was even a thing during the war. I thought it had developed more around the second WW. Amazing what was done at that time to try to give those soldiers who horrible facial injuries some sort of hope.
-Jen
This video (amazingly well done by the way) has filled me with such grief and rage. Any leader who has ever considered war as a solution should be FORCED, physically forced to see these men, to hear of their suffering!!! Ordinary guys from the streets of London, the fields of Bavaria ,the seasides of Brittany and a thousand other places who wanted nothing but to live, to have a little bit of dignity, respect and love. They answered their countries call and what did they get in return? Nothing, they were forgotten by society as soon as the peace came. Sickening treatment, absolutely sickening
4:15 That face always scared me as a child...it sends chills..
hey. I was wondering how Malta was involved in WW1? I heard that it was somehow used as a big hospital. could you please talk about it in one of your episodes?
www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zpx8d2p
TheAlexagius there are many links to the topics he covers, but I would enjoy seeing it from him.
JRDN Gaming 😁cool
JRDN Gaming so you can speak Arabic?
That's cool, I didn't even know Malta had it's own language or that it played such a big role in WWI. Thank you so much for sharing :D
This episode along with the "Shellshock" one may be the most important episodes in this "series"... These two episodes are the other side of the war, the visible and invisible scars of the war.
More than ever, "This is modern war".
Thankyou very much for all the research, for all the good work displayed in each episode.
i cant imagine that a war could leave so many scars in this world. thank god for what we have
Great video!! I always kinda wondered how they dealt with this level of carnage. We had a guy in my home town who was a WWI vet (this was in the early 80's) I remember he had scarring on his cheeks. From what my dad told me (my dad was in the VFW/Legion with him), he caught a lucky bullet- it passed cleanly through both cheeks, knocked out his teeth in the process. I just remember how he looked, like he had weird dimples in his cheeks, haha.
It is an honour to hear Indie talk about such a difficult topic. Your words touched soft spots mate!
Of all the videos to date,this one brings home the horrors of war and the truth to the saying "War Is Hell".
Great video.
I had my face broken and my nose split in half. An amazing emergency surgeon put it back together and now I just have a coupla scars and a bit of asymmetry that my girlfriend thinks looks "rugged". Science has definitely advanced!
how did that happen 😳
I was having a pretty upbeat morning. Then, I watched The Great War. This one, more than many others, I found profoundly sobering. Time to go play Battlefield 1, where war is fun, and laughs are had.
Yeah, that's definitely a part of the war that doesn't need to be included in the game.
It's not all great. We were charging a mountainous region where I got shot by an Austrian soldier. That bastard...he...humped my body when I was on the ground. One of my comrades put a shovel in his face. A medic was close by. I could see him coming closer and I eagerly waited for him to revive me...but he never did. He just ran into the line of fire and died when a burning zeppelin fell on him. War is hell...
And then I respawned.
Ya it's so fun to die from an At-Rocket gun from across the map.
Indi many a unsung hero in this post - sensitively presented
Those doctors brings hope to those soldiers. They where heroes to!
As a amputee, the sad state is that war brings advancement in surgical techniques and prosthetics. Thank you guys for this clip and explaining the impacts not just on the soldiers but also their families
It's too bad that the doctors on both sides weren't able to collaborate, I wonder if they did after the war, as the surgeries would be ongoing.
RIP Richard Harrow
AHorseWithExplosiveDiarrhea™ dude remove your profile picture...you clearly dont know who that is
Leo Bašić who is it? just curious
Albert Fish
Serial Killer
For future reference you can right click any picture and Search google for images should be an option.
Rose Erin quite difficult when you're on a phone but thanks anyway
I'm in my early thirties and when you think about it past generations like our grand parents and great-grand parents were probably more accustomed to seeing people with say eye patches, false limbs and scars. My dad told me of a neighbour he grew up next door to who always wore curious long black gloves right up to his elbows, he discovered the reason for this was the neighbour had been a World War II tank crewman and his hands were badly burnt after his tank caught fire.
As it says in the video perhaps one good thing that came from the war was advances in cosmetic surgery and prosthetic limbs. Great episode and very insightful as ever.
As a Great War Living Historian this is one aspect of the war that never ceases to break my heart
They say necessity is the mother of invention. You can hardly find a place with more necessities than on a battlefield.
I wanna hug them all!
I've watched a lot of Great War channel videos, and have been watching a lot of WW1 videos leading up to Nov-11-2018, and this was the first that made me truly weep uncontrollably. So much horror and suffering. And for what?
Thanks for showing the true colors of war. There is no honor or glory in war, only victims.
7:58 too short. I didn't realize that much time has elapsed. Great episode, team!
This video makes me think of one of my favourite novels, "La Chambre des Officiers", a story about the "gueules cassées", and an officer who's been maimed on day one of WWI and spent the remainder of the war in a special hospital with experimentations in the field of reconstructive surgery.
I don't know if the novel has been translated in other languages than French, but it was also turned into a movie.
Have you ever heard of a novel called "Johnie got his Gun" whose main character is a soldier who had his face destroyed. Good book.
Randolph Guevara Isn't One by Metallica based off that?
It has an English translation - 'The Officers' Ward'.
SwungSilver7 Yep !
Randolph Guevara That film was devastating to watch, it took me weeks to recover. It is quite possibly, the greatest anti war film ever made.
Great espisode!
The human side of war is often forgotten and it is good to remember this side of the war!
Thanks and continuing the show
Omg, thank you for this awesome video! somehow this made me cry, there are so many people out there fixing their "imperfect" faces maybe without even knowing this sad history... really well done video
That's modern war
Good thing medical science advanced considering back then pain-killers meant getting you very drunk before your arm is amputated.
+MustBeNoodly Wrong, roman troops received medical care comparable to that of the first WW. They of course had very basic understanding of why or how things were the way they were, but they knew how to prevent infection, and even how to perform some relatively advanced surgeries to the brain to drain blood.
I'm not sure about this last one but I think they even knew how to fix broken arteries in the limbs.
samiamtheman73 I've heard that your body goes into shock and you don't feel much. Can't get too drunk before an amputation or you'll bleed out.
***** They had to learn that too.
+ColasTeam
_"[...] I think they even knew how to fix broken arteries in the limbs"_
Certainly not! The Romans didn't have proper surgical suture material for vascular surgery...
War always improved technology and medicine, and the world rulers always pretty knew it...
Fuck... This made me heartbroken... I pay my respects to the veterans, living and to the dead, may you rest in peace and may us meet on the battlefield!
Excellent job Great War. Your unbiased and heartfelt sensitivity is always present, and it shines here. Indy, Flo, and the rest of the team: excellent job. Wonderful and sensitive research on an extremely difficult topic. And very wonderful and emotional comments from my fellow loyal history buffs. Hats off to the Great War team and my commenting brothers and sisters. Much respect.-Chris.
Do it again but say it all in Richard Harrow voice
+MeyRevived Don't give him any ideas.
The Great War Do it~!
Still though, for all the wasted potential, Richard Harrow's character development and weapon choices in the initial leg of the show, down to the face mask, was pretty true to the immediate post-war period of the 1920s.
wood1155 I'm just re-watching it. The small historical details and the human experience stories are lovely. Gangsters and violence is boring
I loved the summary of the show was that it had an uncanny ability to make great characters, but then had no idea of what to do with them. To me, it suffered primarily from centering on one of it's least interesting characters, Nucky was nothing but a man-boy who should not have survived the first season with his rotten judgment.
Richard Harrow was by far their best character.
No war is worth this remember the men who died at Verdun this February 21st thank God this will never happen again *cries*
+Lock3003 AKA Commander Danse we will remember it. Just went there two weeks ago.
Respect to all who serve and have served their countries.
It's a common expression to have give your life or your body for your country, few think on the idea of having to sacrifice your face
The disfigured soldiers of both sides are a sad fact that's often forgotten or overlooked, thank you for taking the time to do a video on it and the incredible people who tried to help those poor men who lost the most personal part of themselves on the altar of modern war