Before the Paralympics: sports for amputees at the Royal Pavilion during World War One

Next week, the 2012 Paralympic Games will open in London. The Paralympics are based on the pioneering work of Dr Ludwig Guttman, who began using sport as a means of rehabilitating men with spinal injuries shortly after World War Two. But you may be surprised to learn that sport was used for a similar purpose in the Royal Pavilion as far back as 1916.

The Royal Pavilion’s use as a hospital for wounded Indian soldiers is well known, and now marked by a permanent gallery. Its use as a hospital for limbless men is less famous, yet it is perhaps an equally fascinating story. It opened in the summer of 1916, and retained many of the same medical personnel who had run the Indian hospital. It continued to care for men who had lost arms and legs in World War One until 1920, when the Pavilion was returned to the Brighton Corporation.

Postcard showing the Pavilion hospital for limbless men, c1917

The contrast with the earlier hospital is striking: the primary focus of the Indian hospital was to make the men fit enough to either return to the front or be invalided back to India. Although the men were celebrated for their bravery in combat, little official concern seems to have been given to what happened to those men who returned home. By contrast, the hospital for limbless men was established with the aim of equipping its patients with new skills with which to rebuild their lives. This is made clear in the speech which opened the hospital:

‘I know that when you come here many of you have sad feelings. You think that life is not going to be much good to you any longer; but when you come on to Roehampton and see the fellows walking about with their artificial legs and using their artificial arms, and when you know what good work they are able to do in the workshops – many have become skilled workers instead of unskilled, as they were before the war… You will be filled with hope… For hope welcomes all who enter here!’

Viscountess Falmouth, quoted in Brighton and Hove Herald, 26 August 1916

Patients of the hospital for limbless men, c1917

The Pavilion hospital for limbless men was modelled on the Roehampton House hospital. A workshop named after Queen Mary was constructed on the northern grounds of the Pavilion, where the patients could learn new skills in carpentry and engineering. But it was not all about work: the men were also given a good deal of leisure time, and sports were regularly enjoyed.

A cricket team from the Pavilion Hospital for Limbless Men, 1917

Cricket, and the old Sussex game of stoolball, were popular in the hospital. As with the Paralympics today, technology was used to enable the men to take part in these sports. The photograph above shows the Pavilion cricket team from 1917, and the crossed cricket bats both appear to have pointed ends. It is likely that these were used to support batsmen with only one leg while they waited at the wicket.

Anticipating the games that Guttman founded at Stoke Mandeville over thirty years later, competitive matches were played between the Pavilion patients and those at Roehampton. Football may have been amongst the other sports played. Although it predates the Pavilion hospital by several months, a postcard exists which shows men on crutches playing football at Roehampton

Football game at Roehampton, March 1916. Courtesy of Penny Howard-Hill.

Much of what we know about life in the hospital for limbless men comes from the Pavilion ‘Blues’, a newspaper produced by the patients. Copies of this are available to view at the Brighton History Centre.

Kevin Bacon
Digital Development Officer

Billy Boardman

Brighton History Centre’s collection of rare materials contains many unique objects, including handwritten ledgers, albums and scrapbooks. One of the most fascinating examples recalls Billy Boardman’s time as manager of The Hippodrome Theatre in Middle Street.

Billy Boardman and members leaving for France

Boardman came to Brighton in 1910 and presided over the Hippodrome during the golden age of variety performance, bringing stars such as Lillie Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt to town. Passionate about the stage, he was also committed to charitable work, taking the world’s first concert party to France during World War I. There, stars such as Gladys Cooper and Seymour Hicks entertained thousands of troops with their singing, acting and dancing.

At home, Boardman arranged entertainment for wounded troops, including the Indian soldiers being treated at the Royal Pavilion, and raised money to provide wheelchairs for the limbless men who were later cared for there. It’s all the more poignant, then, to discover that his only son, Albert, was killed in action in May 1918.

For King and Country

Hippodrome programme

Boardman retired from the Hippodrome in 1924 and moved to France, but he returned to Brighton some years before his death in 1959. His obituary, published in the Brighton Herald, described him as ‘one of the outstanding personalities of the town. The life and soul of every party and always in the fore with any charity or benevolent appeal.’

If you’re interested in looking at the Hippodrome scrapbook, which contains correspondence, news cuttings and ephemera, see our website for details of how to access the rare collection. Boardman’s autobiography, Vaudeville Days, is also available for reference.

Kate Elms, Brighton History Centre