WW2 Pilots who’d been trapped in burning planes and soldiers whose faces were shattered by bombs, were sent to Albert Ward at the North Staffs Infirmary, where they received the most advanced treatments of the day. The surgeon in charge was Fenton-born John Grocott who had been trained by the most famous plastic surgeons in the world, Sir Harold Gillies and Archibald McIndoe.
But for the childhood memories of a local lady and a letter written by a grateful soldier to The Sentinel, details of Grocott’s innovative work at the Infirmary would be forgotten. Now, after extensive research, his remarkable story can be told.
