The scale and type of physical injuries endured by soldiers injured in World War One challenged the ingenuity of prosthesis designers, whose work to replace lost body parts would let many return to productive civilian life, a process echoed today with soldiers injured in our recent wars. Here Austro-Hungarian soldiers practice walking with artificial legs at the First War Hospital, Budapest. See gallery showing the effects of the war.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
The scale and type of physical injuries endured by soldiers injured in World War One challenged the ingenuity of prosthesis designers, whose work to replace lost body parts would let many return to productive civilian life, a process echoed today with soldiers injured in our recent wars. Here Austro-Hungarian soldiers practice walking with artificial legs at the First War Hospital, Budapest. See gallery showing the effects of the war.
Stefan Sauer/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
German soldier with simple artificial legs, 1917.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
German soldier with simple artificial legs, 1917.
Jacques Boyer/Roger Viollet/Getty Images
Postcard of British soldiers using parallel bars to help them learn to walk with their artificial legs. Image was probably taken at Queen Mary's Convalescent Auxiliary Hospital, a specialized orthopedic hospital that opened in London in 1915.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
Postcard of British soldiers using parallel bars to help them learn to walk with their artificial legs. Image was probably taken at Queen Mary's Convalescent Auxiliary Hospital, a specialized orthopedic hospital that opened in London in 1915.
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A disabled German ex-serviceman works as a carpenter with the aid of a prosthetic arm, Germany, circa 1919.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
A disabled German ex-serviceman works as a carpenter with the aid of a prosthetic arm, Germany, circa 1919.
FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Prosthesis for eye and eyelid, to attach to glasses, France, 1916.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
Prosthesis for eye and eyelid, to attach to glasses, France, 1916.
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Soldier wearing prothesis to replace one eye and the eyelids, France, 1916.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
Soldier wearing prothesis to replace one eye and the eyelids, France, 1916.
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German soldier equipped with two, more sophisticated, artificial legs, 1917.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
German soldier equipped with two, more sophisticated, artificial legs, 1917.
Jacques Boyer/Roger Viollet/Getty Images
German man riding a bicycle using prostheses on both arms and legs. Photo by Dr. P. A. Smithe, American Red Cross surgeon at the Vienna Red Cross Hospital, 1914-1915.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
German man riding a bicycle using prostheses on both arms and legs. Photo by Dr. P. A. Smithe, American Red Cross surgeon at the Vienna Red Cross Hospital, 1914-1915.
Courtesy of thel World War I Museum
An artificial limb maker at work in Berlin in 1919. Prosthetics were perhaps Berlin's busiest industry after the carnage of the Great War.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
An artificial limb maker at work in Berlin in 1919. Prosthetics were perhaps Berlin's busiest industry after the carnage of the Great War.
Popperfoto/Getty Images
Wounded veterans with their prostheses, 1916.
WWI's "Bionic Men" —
Wounded veterans with their prostheses, 1916.
Jacques Boyer/Roger Viollet/Getty Images