The Face of War

The orderlies rushed the patient into the casualty clearing station. The admissions doctor must have flinched when he saw the soldier’s bloodied and pulped head. He simply scrawled ‘smashed face’ on his medical file.

Captain Herbert Foxton was wounded on the Somme in July 1918, when a high explosive shell exploded close to him. His prospects of survival were considered slim.

Yet, although blinded, unable to speak, and with a gaping hole where his face had once been, Herbert managed to pull through.

Herbert transferred to a hospital in England where he underwent 25 operations. Although his face was painstakingly rebuilt, his sight could not be restored.

In 1920 Herbert transferred to St Dunstan's Hostel, where he learned how to read braille, and use a typewriter.

Herbert was repatriated to Australia in 1921 but was unable to continue his pre-war occupation as a watchmaker.

Herbert returned to England in 1923 for further reconstructive surgery. He regained his sight in one eye, which provided him some capacity to read.

Upon returning to Australia in 1925, Herbert married his long-time sweetheart, Ruth Love.

Ruth had been Herbert’s mainstay. They had met before the war in Dublin. They later migrated to Australia. Despite Herbert’s disfigurement, Ruth stuck by him, and patiently waited for many years, while he received treatment in England.

Herbert faced many challenges: his injuries prevented him from working, he experienced the ‘Medusa Effect’ of people staring at his disfigured face, and he required constant treatment.

Despite all this, Herbert and Ruth lived happy lives. They raised four children and had 12 grandchildren.

In the 1950s Herbert’s eyesight failed and he returned to using braille to read. Despite his deteriorating health, he proudly marched each ANZAC Day.

Herbert died in 1984, aged 94.

My novel ‘Night in Passchendaele’, which explores post-war trauma among war-damaged soldiers like Herbert, is out now:

https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761265976/night-in-passchendaele/

For author-signed copies and international shipping:

https://scottbennettwriter.com/shop/ (https://scottbennettwriter.com/shop/

Photo credit: AWM

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