The disabled century / 1914-1944.

First of 3-part history of the place of disabled people in British society from 1914 onwards, told mainly by witness accounts. First World War veterans recall the injuries they witnessed and suffered. At a time when the mentally and physically disabled were kept out of sight in institutions the war brought disability into the open. This did not, however, mark the beginning of better times for them. The disabled fared badly in the 1930s slump and in the build up to the Second World War, children who had been more or less integrated at home and in their local communities were evacuated to institutions where they were made to feel the full burden of their disabilities. The adult disabled, however, found new opportunities for employment in the war initiative. The war produced a new wave of disabled men and dreadful facial injuries inspired pioneering surgery in facial reconstruction.