Faces of the first world war
The British Experience of Facial Injury in the Great War
© RCS
Our faces are integral to our world.
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A face is usually the thing we notice first about a person and it's a fundamentally important marker of identity.
It can signify how old we are; convey our personalities; and express how we’re feeling.
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And, in an age of social media, we are looking at each other - and ourselves - more than ever.
The pressure to look a certain way can feel inescapable.
Indeed, 91% of Brits today think that physical appearance matters.​​
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​​For right or wrong, then, we are, in many ways, defined by our appearance.
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So what if, in an instant, your face changed beyond recognition?
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Would you still be the same person?
Would your friends, family - the world - see you in the same way?​
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This online exhibition explores the story of a group of men who were forced to find out.
​60,500 British servicemen sustained and lived with facial injuries as a result of the First World War. Their changed appearances, however, meant these men were hidden from view.
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From the anxieties felt in hospital to the reactions of strangers in the street, this exhibition looks at these men head on and highlights the story of how they reconstructed not just their faces, but their lives.​​
Although it has become especially intense in the 21st century, our preoccupation with how we look is nothing new.​​
Image: © BAPRAS
The Author
Bia Cottenden is a public historian whose research interests focus on the disabled experience of conflict. She is particularly interested in the British experience of the First World War.
She is currently studying for her MA in Public History at Royal Holloway, University of London.