The disabled century. Part 1, 1914-1945.

The first in a three-part series which looks back over the last one hundred years of disability. This part features, in particular, how the first and second world wars affected disabled adults and children. We hear about combat disorders such as shell shock. World War One veterans describe what life was like as an injured soldier. We hear from people who were locked away due to mental health issues, such as Bill Surrey who was locked up from the age of seven for his whole life, seventy years. We hear from deaf children and also from a woman with a curved spine who spent most of two years in a full body plaster cast. Other children were sent to charity workshops to do basic manual labour for little or no money. During the war when children were evacuated to the countryside, the disabled children were left behind or sent to institutions and now, as elderly people, they describe what life was like for them there. Two men who were severely burned describe their experiences and recovery. During the time between 1914 and 1945, however, a shift had taken place in which disabled people had gone from being considered useless to being considered useful for work and for war.