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I remember the “round the world” broadcast by ��ѿ��ý Radio at Christmas time and in December 1945, one such broadcast came from one of the wards at the burns unit at Queen Victoria Hospital at East Grinstead in Sussex. The operating theatre was converted from what was the children’s ward. It had a half patition down the middle and was known as “the horsebox”. Sir Archibald McIndoe was the surgeon doing pioneering work in plastic surgery. His assistant was Sister Mullins and their patients were men and women of the armed forces from all nationalities.

At the broadcast Edward Chapman, film star, was compere, Sir Archibald was there and so was Sister Mullins and someone from the ��ѿ��ý played the piano around which were gathered some of the patients, naval men who had been burnt when their ship was bombed, soldiers one of whom received burns when his tank caught fire after being shelled, last but not least, airmen whose planes were shot down in flames and had received dreadful burns as a result. These men were called “guinea pigs” and they had their own song so after sending messages to their families back home in different parts of the world, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and the USA, they sang the Guinea Pigs National Anthem to the hymn tune “From Green Lands Icy Mountains”

We are McIndoe’s army
We are his guinea pigs
With dermatomes
And pedicles
Glass eyes
False teeth
And wigs
And when we get our
Discharge
We’ll sing with all our might
Per ardua ad astra
We’d rather drink
Than fight

Queen Victoria Hospital was very laid back like no hospital I’ve ever been in. One American airman was allowed to bring his Alsatian dog “Flash” to the hospital. “Flash” used to wander all round the hospital whilst his master was having his operation and recovering from it. One day the builders, who were repairing the floor of one of the kitchens, left a large pile of sand on the forecourt. Next day when they arrived, there were two piles of sand, “Flash” had been rabbiting and him being an Alsatian no-one dared to stop him.

One day a notice was put on the ward notice board asking patients to put their names down on the list who would like to have dinner with the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace.

When the day arrived there weren’t enough names to fill the coach so Matron and the Superintendent went round the wards trying to get more of the lads to go, their attitude was if they couldn’t all go then no one was going. In the end they gave in and got on the coach. Apparently they all had a good time for when they arrived back at the hospital at around midnight, we heard clanking of beer bottles and a loud rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”

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