These WWI Soldiers Were So Wounded They Were Doomed To A Life Of Isolation – This Woman Changed Their Lives
World War I was a horrible time – many people died and some of those who survived, were left severely disfigured. After the doctors had done all they could, the survivors were left bearing their scars. But one woman Anna Coleman Watts Ladd decided to help.
Anna Coleman Watts Ladd was an American sculptor who moved to France with her husband in 1917. It was there that she met a British sculptor named Francis Derwent Wood. Wood had opened a place called the “Tin Noses Shop” where he would help severely disfigured soldiers by creating realistic facemasks to cover their scars. Inspired by the sculptor’s work, Ladd opened her own “Studio for Portrait-Masks” and started creating masks for soldiers for herself.
Ladd’s works helped change many soldier’s lives and you can see some of her facemasks in the gallery below.
More info: Rare Historical Photos | Library of Congress | h/t
Anna Coleman Watts Ladd was an American sculptor who helped severely disfigured soldiers after WWI
In France, she met a British sculptor Francis Derwent Wood who created face masks for badly scarred WWI soldiers in his “Tin Noses Shop”
Inspired by his work, Ladd opened the “Studio for Portrait-Masks” where she created cosmetic masks for WWI soldiers in need
The injured soldiers battled with the psychological stress of people judging their appearance
The soldiers were called mutilés and some were so wounded, you could barely recognize their faces
Most of the soldiers were doomed to a life of total isolation and were the most tragic victims of the war
But Ladd’s work helped change many of the soldier’s lives
In 1932, she was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the French Government in honor of her charitable work
The story touched the hearts of many people
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