The Truth Behind Enemy Fire:
The work of Foyle's War surgeon Patrick Jamieson is inspired by the amazing story of the real-life pioneering surgeon, Archibald McIndoe. McIndoe achieved international fame during the war for his groundbreaking work with plastic surgery on horrifically burnt Battle of Britain fighter pilots.
In all his time at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, McIndoe did not wear a military uniform and was never himself subject to military discipline despite working for the RAF and with RAF pilots.
Although McIndoe quickly earned the support and respect of the RAF military doctors there were a few moments when his rather unique methods come into conflict with strict army discipline. McIndoe insisted that his men should be allowed to wear their own clothes rather than the RAF uniforms which made the men feel like prisoners. McIndoe filled the hospital with music and laughter.
Because of his pioneering methods the young men treated came to refer to themselves jokingly as The Guinea Pigs and formed a club under this name. The Club was really intended to be a drinking club, which would disband after the war. Instead it grew in strength. There were 649 Guinea Pigs at the end of the war and the majority were British. It is still in existence today.
Behind the Scenes with Production Designer, Martyn John
In Enemy Fire, a Spitfire crashes to the ground, badly injuring the pilot.
Explains Martyn: "When I got the script and read we had to blow up a Spitfire it sent alarm bells ringing. As they cost in excess of one million pounds, we had to build one. We only had eight weeks to find the plans to build a Spitfire, make it, and work out how we could blow it up again and again, so they could film the sequence of an airman getting burnt in the plane.
"Research on Enemy Fire was a big element. It is inspired by a real surgeon called McIndoe, so we had to look into operations and early plastic surgery and find period equipment such as operating lamps and saline baths.
"McIndoe was at the forefront of his profession and a lot of the stuff he had he invented himself. So we had great fun inventing our own machinery as well as getting equipment from McIndoe's museum in East Grinstead. It was fantastic to be lent the real stuff that a doctor would have used then.
"It was difficult to find a location big enough for a hospital, as the RAF took over country houses. We wanted one that we could strip out but still look like it was inhabited by the Lord of the Manor. In the end we used three different houses - Knebworth Hall for the exterior and some interiors, Wall Hall for other interiors along with our base, Balls Park.
"It was all faked together to form one location, with the same curtains and carpets throughout, and we kept moving the same furniture to all the different locations."
Reading List
The work of Foyle's War surgeon Patrick Jamieson is inspired by the amazing story of the real-life pioneering surgeon, Archibald McIndoe. McIndoe achieved international fame during the war for his groundbreaking work with plastic surgery on horrifically burnt Battle of Britain fighter pilots.
In all his time at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, McIndoe did not wear a military uniform and was never himself subject to military discipline despite working for the RAF and with RAF pilots.
Although McIndoe quickly earned the support and respect of the RAF military doctors there were a few moments when his rather unique methods come into conflict with strict army discipline. McIndoe insisted that his men should be allowed to wear their own clothes rather than the RAF uniforms which made the men feel like prisoners. McIndoe filled the hospital with music and laughter.
Because of his pioneering methods the young men treated came to refer to themselves jokingly as The Guinea Pigs and formed a club under this name. The Club was really intended to be a drinking club, which would disband after the war. Instead it grew in strength. There were 649 Guinea Pigs at the end of the war and the majority were British. It is still in existence today.
Behind the Scenes with Production Designer, Martyn John
In Enemy Fire, a Spitfire crashes to the ground, badly injuring the pilot.
Explains Martyn: "When I got the script and read we had to blow up a Spitfire it sent alarm bells ringing. As they cost in excess of one million pounds, we had to build one. We only had eight weeks to find the plans to build a Spitfire, make it, and work out how we could blow it up again and again, so they could film the sequence of an airman getting burnt in the plane.
"Research on Enemy Fire was a big element. It is inspired by a real surgeon called McIndoe, so we had to look into operations and early plastic surgery and find period equipment such as operating lamps and saline baths.
"McIndoe was at the forefront of his profession and a lot of the stuff he had he invented himself. So we had great fun inventing our own machinery as well as getting equipment from McIndoe's museum in East Grinstead. It was fantastic to be lent the real stuff that a doctor would have used then.
"It was difficult to find a location big enough for a hospital, as the RAF took over country houses. We wanted one that we could strip out but still look like it was inhabited by the Lord of the Manor. In the end we used three different houses - Knebworth Hall for the exterior and some interiors, Wall Hall for other interiors along with our base, Balls Park.
"It was all faked together to form one location, with the same curtains and carpets throughout, and we kept moving the same furniture to all the different locations."
Reading List
- McIndoe's Army: The Story of the Guinea Pig Club and Its Indomitable Members; by Peter Williams, Ted Harrison, Edward Bishop (Editor); ISBN:1902304934; Grub Street Publishing
- The Reconstruction of Warriors: Archibald McIndoe,the Royal Air Force and the Guinea Pig Club ; by E.R. Mayhew; ISBN: 1853676101; Greenhill Books