Abstract

Gueules cassées (broken faces) is a French expression for facially disfigured servicemen which originated in World War I. Colonel Yves Picot is said to have coined the term when he was refused passing a checkpoint to a party.

Background

Trench warfare protected the bodies but left the heads exposed. Ironically, the introduction of the steel helmet in 1915 made head shots more 'survivable', but this reduction of mortality meant a mutilated life for thousands.

At the start of the war those wounded to the head were generally not considered able to survive and they would not usually be 'helped first'. This changed in the course of the war, as progress was made in medical practices like oral and maxillofacial surgery and most notably in the new field of plastic surgery. Surgeons conducted experiments with bone, cartilage and tissue transplants and the likes of Hippolyte Morestin, Harold Gillies and Léon Dufourmentel made enormous advances. Because of the experimental character of this surgery some chose to remain as they were and others could just not be helped yet. Some of the latter were helped by all kinds of new prosthetics to make them look more or less 'normal'.

Gueules cassées

An estimated 4.2 million French were wounded, 300,000 of which were classified as 'mutilated'. Of those some 15,000 can be called "gueules cassées". Right after the war those facially disfigured were not considered war veterans and exempt from support and veteran's benefits, but that changed later. In 1921 the "Union des Blessés de la Face et de la tête" (association of the wounded to the face and the head) was formed. The Colonel Picot mentioned above was one of its founders and a later president of the association. It still exists, currently under the name "Gueules Cassées" with, considering the mutilations, the somewhat sour slogan "sourire quand même" (smiling nonetheless).