THE unveiling of the plaque to surgeon Harold Gillies brought memories flooding back for 86-year-old World War II veteran Roy Nash last Saturday.
The war hero from Tadley underwent a series of five operations by the pioneering surgeon to fix up his right hand which was badly damaged while on service.
On April 2, 1945, the 18-year-old private with the 2nd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment was ambushed by German forces in Teutoburger Wald in Germany.
He was hit by a bullet which entered his wrist and shattered the back of his hand and fingers.
He said: “I remember there was murderous machine gun fire – I had never seen anything like it. I was hit and thrown on my back. I cried for my mother and was in the most terrible pain.”
The wounded soldier crawled back to an aid post, from where he was dispatched back to England. He was sent to Rooksdown House Hospital, where Sir Harold patched up his hand, using skin taken from his stomach lining on his left side.
The first operation in October 1945 failed and the wound had turned gangrenous by January the following year. He was readmitted under Sir Harold’s care for a further procedure, taking skin from the other side of his abdomen, which was a success.
Mr Nash said: “He was a wonderful man. It did not matter whether you were badly wounded or not, he treated you the same. Nobody got any distinction on the ward.
“It was emotional seeing the plaque. I had not been back since I was discharged in 1946. Seeing his two grandchildren there meant a lot.
“They shed a little tear and so did I.”
