Our History

	Sir Archibald McIndoe

Archibald McIndoe was a New Zealand plastic surgeon whose exceptional achievements in the treatment of badly burned Allied aircrew - famously called his 'Guinea Pigs' - at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, during World War II, led to a worldwide reputation.

Civilian Consultant in plastic surgery to the Royal Air Force, his improvements on current techniques for the treatment of casualties disfigured in combat, once described as the 'worst wreckage of the war', transformed reconstructive surgery procedures. The Boss or The Maestro, as he was known at East Grinstead, defined the meticulous craft of cutting, grafting, stitching and reconstituting as 'the art of ordinary surgery raised to the nth degree of finesse'.

Equally, he understood that a different battle had to be won in rebuilding the morale and self-confidence of his young airmen. “He had a terrific understanding of his patients which helped us all to adjust to post-war life” recalled one Guinea Pig, who had undergone 35 operations over three-and-a-half years. Archibald Mclndoe, immortalised by his patient Richard Hillary in 'The Last Enemy', an incredibly personal book about Hillary's experiences as a fighter pilot, was knighted in 1948 for his wartime work and is honoured today by an English Heritage blue plaque outside his London home.

However, his true monument is the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation. 'The next great era in surgery' he confided to a colleague, 'will be when we learn how to transplant tissue from one person to another. I foresee the day when whole limbs, kidneys, lungs and even hearts will be surgically replaced'. The Blond McIndoe Research Foundation was the culminating achievement of the efforts of the great surgeon and his friends Neville and Elaine Blond, who lent their home to convalescing airmen throughout the war. Their role in supporting plans for a research institute, when approached by Sir Archibald's fellow surgeon, John Watson, cannot be exaggerated.

Sadly, Sir Archibald died in 1960, a year before the Foundation was opened - a source of inspiration, he had created the spectacle even if he did not appear on the stage. The first project, centred on attempts to transplant donor skin to severely burned patients, was funded by the Leverhulme Trust. During the last 40 years, the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation has pioneered leading-edge surgical techniques: the first successful toe-to-thumb transplant, immunology of organ transplantation and tissue typing, matching grafts to recipients and improving the success of corneal grafts.