THE recent commemorations of the beginning of World War 1 reminded me of the valuable contributions made by Collegiate Old Boys and Staff during those times. Earlier this evening I told the Hadfield boys of one Old Boy whose exceptional contribution will never be forgotten. Sir Harold Delf Gillies (OB 988) Harold Gillies was a boarder at Collegiate from 1896 to 1900. In short, he was a musician, academic prize-winner, editor of the Collegian magazine, debater, golfer and cricketer. In his fourth and final year in the XI he captained the team, scoring the first-ever century for WCS in his final match for the School. After completing his schooling at Collegiate, Gillies enrolled to study medicine at Caius College, Cambridge University. He rowed for the Cambridge VIII, helping them achieve victory over rivals Oxford University in the historic boat race. He also won his Blue in golf and played in the University Orchestra. He went on to play golf for England. In 1910 Gillies passed the examinations of the Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and was appointed as a surgeon at a local hospital. The outbreak of WW I saw Gillies volunteer for service as a surgeon. During this time, Gillies pioneered plastic surgery techniques that are still used today. Soldiers disfigured by war found salvation in his careful hands as he skilfully reconstructed their faces. Some had been disfigured by explosions; others burnt. Some of what he did involved reconstructing noses, eyelids and lips using tissue, cartilage and bone from the victims’ bodies. According to records he performed in excess of 11 000 reconstructive operations on more than 8 000 soldiers in WW I alone. The same techniques developed by Gillies in WW I were used by him and other surgeons in WW II. Those same techniques are currently used by military surgeons in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has been referred to as “the face-maker” and is regarded as the father of plastic surgery. Gillies returned to New Zealand only once before he died in 1960. He told a friend “I want to smell the New Zealand bush on a wet day, I want to hear a tui, catch a brown trout, do a little painting and perhaps play three or four holes of golf. And I want to see the pohutukawas in full bloom”. On his visit he returned to Collegiate and addressed the School. A story worth telling; a life worth celebrating. Rob van Dort
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 08:57:02 +0000