Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex, became the center of revolutionary plastic surgery under Sir Archibald McIndoe, who rebuilt the faces, hands, and bodies of hundreds of severely burned airmen. Many of his patients had suffered horrific burns when their aircraft caught fire—fighter pilots were particularly vulnerable as they sat directly above the fuel tank.
McIndoe pioneered new techniques including the "walking-stalk pedicle" (a tube of skin grown from one body part and gradually moved to another), saline bath therapy for burns (which proved far superior to the tannic acid treatment then in use), and early concepts of what we now call holistic rehabilitation. He insisted his patients rejoin society during treatment, arranging for them to visit local pubs and cinemas.
The patients formed the "Guinea Pig Club"—a darkly humorous name reflecting their role as subjects of experimental surgery. The town of East Grinstead embraced them so thoroughly it became known as "the town that didn't stare." The club eventually had 649 members and continued meeting annually until 2007. McIndoe's techniques laid the foundation for modern plastic and reconstructive surgery.