Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The battle of the limbs: Amputation, artificial limbs and the great war in Australia

1998; Routledge; Volume: 29; Issue: 110 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10314619808596060

1940-5049

Joanna Bourke,

World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact

The expectation or experience of physical suffering was shared by 330,000 Australian men who saw active service during the first world war. Of these men, one in five was killed and tens of thousands returned to Australia ill or wounded. Genital mutilation, facial disfigurement and limblessness were the three fates most feared by soldiers. This article focuses on Australian servicemen in the last category: men whose limbs had been amputated as a result of war service. It examines the surgical and medical services offered to these soldiers and the ways in which they strove to adapt to their injuries. The war radically changed their lives, yet, despite wartime promises, politicians and the larger community rapidly forgot the ‘sacrifice’ so many had made of their arms and legs.