Latest news with #WesternFront
India Today
3 days ago
- Health
- India Today
The facemaker of World War 1: how Harold Gillies gave shattered soldiers a new self
Today, when we hear the words 'plastic surgery,' it often conjures images of celebrities fine-tuning their looks under bright Hollywood lights. But long before it was about aesthetic tweaks, it was about survival -- about restoring identity to those whose faces had been taken by war or fire or trenches of the First World War unleashed a kind of devastation few could have imagined. Men returned to Britain with their jaws blown off, noses missing, eyes sealed shut -- shells of their former at Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot, England, a young surgeon from New Zealand saw something others didn't. He looked beyond the torn skin and shattered bones and asked a different kind of question: what if surgery could bring not just flesh, but identity, back to life?FROM DUNEDIN DREAMER TO SURGICAL PIONEEROn June 17, 1882, Harold Delf Gillies was born into a world of rhetoric and renaissance. His father was a Member of Parliament in Dunedin, NewZealand, and his mother was related to the whimsical poet Edward Whanganui Collegiate, young Gillies excelled in medicine, but also cricket and golf. Those qualities would shape his later life: physical precision mixed with a creative England, he read medicine at Cambridge's Gonville and Caius, where he rowed in the 1904 Boat Race and played golf for England. Then came London and Hospital, where he trained in 1911, he'd married Kathleen Margaret Jackson, and shortly after, World War I broke out. Group photo at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup in 1917, including Harold Gillies, William Kelsey Fry and Henry Tonks (1917) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) A WAR SCULPTED A NEW VISIONHe arrived on the Western Front in 1915, a 32-year-old doctor with tools, questions, and a quiet kind of French surgeon Hippolyte Morestin, Harold Gillies watched as damaged jaws were covered using pieces of skin from other parts of the body. The sight moved him in London, he convinced the military to let him create a special ward at Aldershot, dedicated entirely to soldiers with facial he was bringing wounded men from the front lines to England -- not just to fix their wounds, but to help them rebuild their sense of first ward would grow. By 1917, the Queen's Hospital (later renamed Queen Mary's Hospital) opened in Sidcup, England, a place where medicine met Gillies assembled a team of surgeons, dentists, anaesthetists, and artists -- all working in harmony to develop new ways of healing. They used skin grafts layered like building blocks, and carefully shaped pieces of tissue to rebuild faces feature by SURGERY, REBUILDING FACESadvertisementThe most famous of Gillies' breakthroughs was something that, on paper, sounded bizarre: the 'tubed pedicle flap.'In an era before antibiotics, open wounds were a dangerous gamble. So Gillies came up with a solution -- shaping skin into tubes while keeping one end attached to the body, so it stayed living skin was slowly moved, bit by bit, across the face until it reached the damaged area. It looked strange, but it 8,000 soldiers were treated using this method at Sidcup. For many, it gave them something beyond survival -- it gave them their face back. Walter Yeo, the first person to receive plastic surgery, before (left) and after (right) skin flap surgery performed by Sir Harold Delf Gillies in 1917. The pictures of Walter's face before the surgery are blurry and hard to come by. In the tragic accident he was recorded as having lost both his upper and lower eyelids. The surgery was some of the first to use a skin flap from an unaffected area of the body and paved the way for a sudden rash of improvements in this field. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) advertisementGillies planned every operation with care. He drew sketches on envelopes and scrap paper, built wax masks and plaster moulds to imagine how a face could be put back together.'Use your eyes first, dirty fingers later,' he would say. His surgery wasn't just skill -- it was craft.A CUP OF COLOUR AND A STREAK OF HUMOURHe wasn't always serious. Gillies liked mischief as much as medicine. He often lit up a Cuban cigar while testing colours in his spectrometer, a tool used for analysing chemical elements, claiming it helped him check lithium lines. It probably also amused the operating theatre, Gillies was a champion golfer, earning his Blue at Cambridge and competing in national tournaments -- even tweaking surgical tools to suit his golfer's grip. He was widely regarded in the early 1920s as one of the finest amateur golfers in England. Harold Gillies was one of the best amateur golfers in England (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) advertisementAnd then there was 'Dr Scroggie from South Africa' -- a persona he created for fun. Dressed in a fake beard and wig, Gillies once walked into his own home pretending to be a visiting doctor. He even fooled his colleagues roared with laughter when they realised the trick -- it was the kind of prank that became legend in his personal life had its own chapters. He married Kathleen Jackson and had children, but lost her in 1957. Later that year, he married Marjorie Clayton, his assistant and close companion for lived for people, progress, and humour -- sometimes all in one operating WAR: A NEW ERA IN SURGERYAfter 1918, Gillies sowed his seeds in civilian soil. His book Plastic Surgery of the Face (1920) became the cornerstone of modern surgery. He founded units around the world, training others like Archibald McIndoe and Rainsford in WWII, his influence helped build effective plastic surgery teams. In 1946 he performed one of the first female-to-male affirming surgeries (MichaelDillon) and in 1951 worked with gender pioneering RobertaCowell. Dr. Gillis, who operated on the Danish sailors injured in the geyser explosion (2nd from the left) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) When asked why, he replied simply: 'If it gives real happiness, that is the most any medicine can give.'A DOCTOR'S LAST ACTGillies worked nearly to the end. He died on September 10, 1960, days after a stroke, still amid a life of purpose and left no fortune, but his real legacy lives on in faces once surgery may now conjure cosmetic bowls on screens. But Gillies reminded the world it was always about function, dignity, reclaiming used art to heal a person's soul as well as their skin. He proved science can be creative. And he offered hope where despair once reigned.
Otago Daily Times
31-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Statue to honour local war hero
An Oamaru war hero killed at the Battle of the Somme may finally take pride and place in his hometown. The New Zealand Remembrance Army (NZRA) plan to honour Victoria Cross recipient, Sergeant Donald Forrester Brown with a life-size bronze statue. Sgt Brown was the first VC recipient for heroism on the Western Front, and the only man from North Otago to be honoured out of 23 New Zealand VC medal winners. New Zealand Remembrance Army member Barry Gamble, who initiated the project, said the plan to build a statute of Sgt Brown was to pay tribute to a local and national hero. "It's all about recognition, honouring this man, who is a true blue Kiwi farmer, who spent most of his short life working the land and then bravely fought for his country." On the opening day of New Zealand's Somme campaign in France, on September 15, 1916, Brown charged and captured key enemy machine-gun positions, helping New Zealand forces to push through German lines. During another attack two weeks later, on the Somme front, Brown told his men to take cover and took two trenches on by himself, chasing the enemy down before he was killed by machine-gun fire at the age of 26, Mr Gamble said. The 1916 Somme offensive was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the First World War (1914-18). The posthumous VC award for gallantry was presented to his father, Robert Brown in Oamaru by the Governor-General, Lord Liverpool in 1917. Mr Gamble said the statue would provide educational, cultural and commemorative value to the Oamaru community and visitors and preserve Sgt Brown's legacy for generations to come. "All the other towns have honoured their Victoria Cross winners with statues and paintings, why not Oamaru ... it's something that we can be really proud of." A former student of Waitaki Boys' High School and a Totara farmer, Sgt Brown was born in 1890 in Dunedin and moved to Oamaru with his family in the mid 1890s, where his father set up a successful drapery business and department store which was eventually named the Polytechnic. Making early sacrifices to enlist with the army, Brown sold his farm on Waiareka Rd in Totara, and gave away his dog, and his horse "and away he went", Mr Gamble said. Your Loving Son, Don, a book of letters he wrote home to his father from the war, was published in 1998 by Sgt Brown's niece Eunice P. Brown. In April, 1916 while stationed in Egypt he wrote about the comfort of his fellow soldiers from the Otago Infantry Regiment in the 10th North Otago Company and their plan to return home. "Its just great the number of Oamaru boys one finds here, and one and all are certain, old Oamaru is quite good enough for us in future." Mr Gamble said despite a photo of Sgt Brown in the Waitaki District Council chambers and his name on the honours board at Waitaki Boys' High School he had "largely been forgotten by Oamaru". "It's quite sad because we've got a proud heritage of buildings, and we've got some of the best memorial statues in the country, like the Hall of Memories." Mr Gamble has driven many projects to honour soldiers, including helping to restore the graves of former military personnel in the Waitaki district. He is also the Oamaru RSA local support adviser. The costing for the monument would be about $160,000, he said. Bob Brown, of Rakaia, the great-nephew of the war hero, was thrilled to be involved and donated $10,000 towards the project, Mr Gamble said. "They were really, really stoked that someone was wanting to do this and they're right behind me." Former New Zealand Army artist Matt Gauldie will be commissioned to create the statue. Gauldie produced a miniature paying close attention to details, at $2000 for the purposes of fundraising. "He's very clever ... a lot of work has gone into this to make sure that he's got all the right war equipment on," Mr Gamble said. NZRA put $1500 towards the concept plan and the Waitaki District Council are in support of the project, he said. Mr Gamble said they estimated the project would take a year and a half to complete and he will be seeking donations from the public and organisations. A final site for the public statue is yet to be determined. The Victoria Cross is the highest award in the British decorations system and is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British and Commonwealth armed services.
The Advertiser
30-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'Traditional but unconventional': Sussan Ley pays tribute to mum at funeral
Federal opposition leader Sussan Ley has told of how her mother Angela Braybrooks, as a psychiatric nurse, saved the life of a patient and made it "much better than before". The remarkable legacy was one of many recalled as the member for Farrer gave the eulogy for the 93 year-old who died on May 17, four days after her daughter became the first woman to lead the federal Liberal Party. Family and friends gathered at St Matthew's Anglican Church, where Mrs Braybrooks had been a devoted parishioner for decades, for the farewell conducted by Father Peter MacLeod-Miller. Among the mourners were former National Party leaders Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce and Liberal senators Anne Ruston and Michaelia Cash, who sat on a front bench of the nave. Albury MP Justin Clancy and Albury councillor and former mayor Kylie King also attended. Ms Ley said her mother's life, which included 61 years of wedlock to Edgar Braybrooks, who died at 103 in 2021, was "traditional but also unconventional". It included meeting Mr Braybrooks through a dating service and then following him to Nigeria, from where he proposed via telephone while working as a policeman. "A loving marriage to my father was at the centre of her world, but it did not completely define her," Ms Ley told the congregation. "Her training as a nurse, her attachment in later life to the Anglican faith, her love of birds and the stars, and her passion for helping those struggling with mental illness, also formed the person she became." English-born Mrs Braybrooks' professional skill was evident when she migrated to Australia in 1974 and nursed in mental health wards, becoming the psychiatric nurse in charge at a Canberra hospital, "a role she excelled at and loved". "Only a few months ago, I received an email from a woman who had been looked after by my mother, saying, 'I shall not ever forget the love, care and wisdom she showed'," Ms Ley said. "'The support saved my life. "'Not only that, gave my life back to me much better than before. "'Since little was known about mental illness then, and little to help families, your mother was sent from up above'." Mrs Braybrooks, growing up as an only child, had to cope with the turbulence of a father who "either did not speak or said horrible things". He had been a World War I soldier before becoming an Anglican vicar. "She would say that it took her half her life to get over her childhood," Ms Ley said. "She turned away from religion for many of her adult years until she realised, through training as a mental health nurse, that her father had clinical depression. "She understood that his experience, in the trenches of the Western Front, had encouraged him towards both a belief in God, but had also sparked his illness. "When she finally forgave him, she allowed herself to come back to the church, even studying for a diploma in theology." Mrs Braybrooks' religious fervour was to the fore in the service, which included an array of hymns, Bible readings and a prayer linked to explorer Sir Francis Drake. Granddaughter Georgina Ley, whose words were read to the funeral after she was unable to attend due to illness, told of her grandmother's temporal loves, which ranged from Lady Grey tea to cooking to just sitting quietly. "Granny always had a very full life," she said. "She was very good at sewing and embroidery, making everything from cushions and dresses, when we were little, to dolls and our library bags for school." Father MacLeod-Miller, described as Mrs Braybrooks' salvation and friend by Ms Ley, ended the funeral by saying the bells of St Matthew's, "which were also cast in England", would "not be tolling out of sadness, but pealing out of joy". He then joined Ms Ley in planting Winston Churchill daffodil bulbs in the church grounds at the relatively recent burial site of Mrs Braybrooks' cat Little Tree. A photo portrait of the pet and a snapshot of Father MacLeod-Miller and Mrs Braybrooks had sat on the coffin throughout the funeral. Federal opposition leader Sussan Ley has told of how her mother Angela Braybrooks, as a psychiatric nurse, saved the life of a patient and made it "much better than before". The remarkable legacy was one of many recalled as the member for Farrer gave the eulogy for the 93 year-old who died on May 17, four days after her daughter became the first woman to lead the federal Liberal Party. Family and friends gathered at St Matthew's Anglican Church, where Mrs Braybrooks had been a devoted parishioner for decades, for the farewell conducted by Father Peter MacLeod-Miller. Among the mourners were former National Party leaders Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce and Liberal senators Anne Ruston and Michaelia Cash, who sat on a front bench of the nave. Albury MP Justin Clancy and Albury councillor and former mayor Kylie King also attended. Ms Ley said her mother's life, which included 61 years of wedlock to Edgar Braybrooks, who died at 103 in 2021, was "traditional but also unconventional". It included meeting Mr Braybrooks through a dating service and then following him to Nigeria, from where he proposed via telephone while working as a policeman. "A loving marriage to my father was at the centre of her world, but it did not completely define her," Ms Ley told the congregation. "Her training as a nurse, her attachment in later life to the Anglican faith, her love of birds and the stars, and her passion for helping those struggling with mental illness, also formed the person she became." English-born Mrs Braybrooks' professional skill was evident when she migrated to Australia in 1974 and nursed in mental health wards, becoming the psychiatric nurse in charge at a Canberra hospital, "a role she excelled at and loved". "Only a few months ago, I received an email from a woman who had been looked after by my mother, saying, 'I shall not ever forget the love, care and wisdom she showed'," Ms Ley said. "'The support saved my life. "'Not only that, gave my life back to me much better than before. "'Since little was known about mental illness then, and little to help families, your mother was sent from up above'." Mrs Braybrooks, growing up as an only child, had to cope with the turbulence of a father who "either did not speak or said horrible things". He had been a World War I soldier before becoming an Anglican vicar. "She would say that it took her half her life to get over her childhood," Ms Ley said. "She turned away from religion for many of her adult years until she realised, through training as a mental health nurse, that her father had clinical depression. "She understood that his experience, in the trenches of the Western Front, had encouraged him towards both a belief in God, but had also sparked his illness. "When she finally forgave him, she allowed herself to come back to the church, even studying for a diploma in theology." Mrs Braybrooks' religious fervour was to the fore in the service, which included an array of hymns, Bible readings and a prayer linked to explorer Sir Francis Drake. Granddaughter Georgina Ley, whose words were read to the funeral after she was unable to attend due to illness, told of her grandmother's temporal loves, which ranged from Lady Grey tea to cooking to just sitting quietly. "Granny always had a very full life," she said. "She was very good at sewing and embroidery, making everything from cushions and dresses, when we were little, to dolls and our library bags for school." Father MacLeod-Miller, described as Mrs Braybrooks' salvation and friend by Ms Ley, ended the funeral by saying the bells of St Matthew's, "which were also cast in England", would "not be tolling out of sadness, but pealing out of joy". He then joined Ms Ley in planting Winston Churchill daffodil bulbs in the church grounds at the relatively recent burial site of Mrs Braybrooks' cat Little Tree. A photo portrait of the pet and a snapshot of Father MacLeod-Miller and Mrs Braybrooks had sat on the coffin throughout the funeral. Federal opposition leader Sussan Ley has told of how her mother Angela Braybrooks, as a psychiatric nurse, saved the life of a patient and made it "much better than before". The remarkable legacy was one of many recalled as the member for Farrer gave the eulogy for the 93 year-old who died on May 17, four days after her daughter became the first woman to lead the federal Liberal Party. Family and friends gathered at St Matthew's Anglican Church, where Mrs Braybrooks had been a devoted parishioner for decades, for the farewell conducted by Father Peter MacLeod-Miller. Among the mourners were former National Party leaders Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce and Liberal senators Anne Ruston and Michaelia Cash, who sat on a front bench of the nave. Albury MP Justin Clancy and Albury councillor and former mayor Kylie King also attended. Ms Ley said her mother's life, which included 61 years of wedlock to Edgar Braybrooks, who died at 103 in 2021, was "traditional but also unconventional". It included meeting Mr Braybrooks through a dating service and then following him to Nigeria, from where he proposed via telephone while working as a policeman. "A loving marriage to my father was at the centre of her world, but it did not completely define her," Ms Ley told the congregation. "Her training as a nurse, her attachment in later life to the Anglican faith, her love of birds and the stars, and her passion for helping those struggling with mental illness, also formed the person she became." English-born Mrs Braybrooks' professional skill was evident when she migrated to Australia in 1974 and nursed in mental health wards, becoming the psychiatric nurse in charge at a Canberra hospital, "a role she excelled at and loved". "Only a few months ago, I received an email from a woman who had been looked after by my mother, saying, 'I shall not ever forget the love, care and wisdom she showed'," Ms Ley said. "'The support saved my life. "'Not only that, gave my life back to me much better than before. "'Since little was known about mental illness then, and little to help families, your mother was sent from up above'." Mrs Braybrooks, growing up as an only child, had to cope with the turbulence of a father who "either did not speak or said horrible things". He had been a World War I soldier before becoming an Anglican vicar. "She would say that it took her half her life to get over her childhood," Ms Ley said. "She turned away from religion for many of her adult years until she realised, through training as a mental health nurse, that her father had clinical depression. "She understood that his experience, in the trenches of the Western Front, had encouraged him towards both a belief in God, but had also sparked his illness. "When she finally forgave him, she allowed herself to come back to the church, even studying for a diploma in theology." Mrs Braybrooks' religious fervour was to the fore in the service, which included an array of hymns, Bible readings and a prayer linked to explorer Sir Francis Drake. Granddaughter Georgina Ley, whose words were read to the funeral after she was unable to attend due to illness, told of her grandmother's temporal loves, which ranged from Lady Grey tea to cooking to just sitting quietly. "Granny always had a very full life," she said. "She was very good at sewing and embroidery, making everything from cushions and dresses, when we were little, to dolls and our library bags for school." Father MacLeod-Miller, described as Mrs Braybrooks' salvation and friend by Ms Ley, ended the funeral by saying the bells of St Matthew's, "which were also cast in England", would "not be tolling out of sadness, but pealing out of joy". He then joined Ms Ley in planting Winston Churchill daffodil bulbs in the church grounds at the relatively recent burial site of Mrs Braybrooks' cat Little Tree. A photo portrait of the pet and a snapshot of Father MacLeod-Miller and Mrs Braybrooks had sat on the coffin throughout the funeral. Federal opposition leader Sussan Ley has told of how her mother Angela Braybrooks, as a psychiatric nurse, saved the life of a patient and made it "much better than before". The remarkable legacy was one of many recalled as the member for Farrer gave the eulogy for the 93 year-old who died on May 17, four days after her daughter became the first woman to lead the federal Liberal Party. Family and friends gathered at St Matthew's Anglican Church, where Mrs Braybrooks had been a devoted parishioner for decades, for the farewell conducted by Father Peter MacLeod-Miller. Among the mourners were former National Party leaders Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce and Liberal senators Anne Ruston and Michaelia Cash, who sat on a front bench of the nave. Albury MP Justin Clancy and Albury councillor and former mayor Kylie King also attended. Ms Ley said her mother's life, which included 61 years of wedlock to Edgar Braybrooks, who died at 103 in 2021, was "traditional but also unconventional". It included meeting Mr Braybrooks through a dating service and then following him to Nigeria, from where he proposed via telephone while working as a policeman. "A loving marriage to my father was at the centre of her world, but it did not completely define her," Ms Ley told the congregation. "Her training as a nurse, her attachment in later life to the Anglican faith, her love of birds and the stars, and her passion for helping those struggling with mental illness, also formed the person she became." English-born Mrs Braybrooks' professional skill was evident when she migrated to Australia in 1974 and nursed in mental health wards, becoming the psychiatric nurse in charge at a Canberra hospital, "a role she excelled at and loved". "Only a few months ago, I received an email from a woman who had been looked after by my mother, saying, 'I shall not ever forget the love, care and wisdom she showed'," Ms Ley said. "'The support saved my life. "'Not only that, gave my life back to me much better than before. "'Since little was known about mental illness then, and little to help families, your mother was sent from up above'." Mrs Braybrooks, growing up as an only child, had to cope with the turbulence of a father who "either did not speak or said horrible things". He had been a World War I soldier before becoming an Anglican vicar. "She would say that it took her half her life to get over her childhood," Ms Ley said. "She turned away from religion for many of her adult years until she realised, through training as a mental health nurse, that her father had clinical depression. "She understood that his experience, in the trenches of the Western Front, had encouraged him towards both a belief in God, but had also sparked his illness. "When she finally forgave him, she allowed herself to come back to the church, even studying for a diploma in theology." Mrs Braybrooks' religious fervour was to the fore in the service, which included an array of hymns, Bible readings and a prayer linked to explorer Sir Francis Drake. Granddaughter Georgina Ley, whose words were read to the funeral after she was unable to attend due to illness, told of her grandmother's temporal loves, which ranged from Lady Grey tea to cooking to just sitting quietly. "Granny always had a very full life," she said. "She was very good at sewing and embroidery, making everything from cushions and dresses, when we were little, to dolls and our library bags for school." Father MacLeod-Miller, described as Mrs Braybrooks' salvation and friend by Ms Ley, ended the funeral by saying the bells of St Matthew's, "which were also cast in England", would "not be tolling out of sadness, but pealing out of joy". He then joined Ms Ley in planting Winston Churchill daffodil bulbs in the church grounds at the relatively recent burial site of Mrs Braybrooks' cat Little Tree. A photo portrait of the pet and a snapshot of Father MacLeod-Miller and Mrs Braybrooks had sat on the coffin throughout the funeral.
IOL News
14-05-2025
- General
- IOL News
On this day in history, May 14
964 Said to have been the 'most wicked of popes', John XII, 29 dies. His pontificate was infamous for depravity and worldliness and his lifestyle was more suited to the secular prince that he was. He was depicted as a coarse, immoral man in the writings which remain about his papacy, whose life was such that the Lateran Palace was spoken of as a brothel. 1607 Colonists establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, unaware that they had landed amid the worst drought in 800 years. Only 60 of the original 214 settlers survive. 1800 The process of moving the US capital from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, begins. 1873 The Ohrigstad River area in the Lydenburg district is proclaimed a gold field after the discovery of gold in the Selati River. 1918 Following the death of his eldest son, Reginald, on the Western Front, Cape Town Mayor Sir Harry Hands inaugurates the Two-minute Silence to honour the loss of life in conflict. Impressed, Sir Percy FitzPatrick, who wrote Jock Of The Bushveld, writes to Britain's Lord Milner about it . The idea is taken up after Armistice Day in London in 1918 and has been celebrated each year on Armistice Day commemorations. 1944 German generals Rommel, Speidel and von Stülpnagel attempt to assassinate Hitler. The failed attempt costs them their lives. 1948 Israel is declared an independent state, but the next day, Arab states attack it. 1961 The Freedom Riders (US civil rights activists who rode buses into segregated areas) have their bus fire-bombed in Alabama, and are beaten by an angry mob. 1973 Patrick Laurence, a journalist from The Star, is charged by Apartheid authorities after publishing a statement by PAC President Robert Sobukwe. 2018 Using specially designed artificial legs, Chinese double amputee Xia Boyu, who was crippled on the world's highest peak 40 years before, finally summits Mt Everest. 2018 The US moves its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 2018 The successful memory transfer in snails achieved by scientists from University of California is detailed in the journal eNeuro.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
National WWI Museum to debut new exhibit during Memorial Day weekend
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After three years of construction projects, the National World War I Museum and Memorial announced that it is opening a new main gallery exhibit on Memorial Day weekend. The museum said the new exhibit, 'Encounters,' uses diary entries, letters and photos to share first-person accounts of individuals who lived through World War I. Big Slick announces first wave of celebrity guests expected to be in KC Through visual storytelling, guests will meet 16 people who lived through the war, including: Allied and Central Power combat soldiers who lived through the Western Front and patrolled the seas in submarines British colonial Indian soldiers who contemplated death and rebelled against the war Women who worked in munitions factories to support the war effort Dissenters who were arrested and tried for protesting involvement in the war 'The incredible stories showcased in Encounters bring to life those who lived during the Great War in a way that's never been experienced before,' Matthew Naylor, museum CEO and president, said in a statement. 'Encounters invites our guests to hear and see real, first-hand narratives of not just the soldier, but the nurse, child, and others who were impacted by global conflict. We hope these intimate encounters with 16 individuals are both moving and thought-provoking for visitors.' 'Encounters' is located in the west gallery, next to 'The Epilogue,' and is included for those who purchase a general admission ticket. It opens to the public on May 23. LIST: Kansas City-area lakes, parks for hiking this spring Guests will also see other additions and improvements that have been made as part of the final phase of the main gallery construction, including 14 new interactive screens, three new films, new lighting and special effects, updated trenches, and a replica field hospital. Additionally, during Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26, the museum will offer free admission for active-duty military members and veterans, including spouses and dependents with valid ID. Half-price admission will be offered to the public. For tickets and more information, . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
