General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

artificial leg

Patents

N/A

General Description

Unfinished carved wood foot and ankle block; silver metal [including steel] bands form vertical supports and knee and thigh supports; rubber pads and strapping cushion ankle and articulated foot; leather and fabric strap between thigh and knee joint has silver metal buckle; silver metal safety pins secure fabric covering over wool [?] padding.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

82.0 cm

Width

21.0 cm

Height

20.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Medical Technology

Category

Assistive technologies

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Germany

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Germany

State/Province

Unknown

Period

This limb presumably used 1946; possibly also used later.

Canada

Part of a large collection of medical artifacts, archival material & trade literature transferred to CSTM in 2002 from the former History of Medicine Museum, Toronto, ON. "Artificial leg. Made in German prison camp. This leg was worn by F/O Hoddlesey, E.F. He suffered a cannon shell injury while on a bombing raid over Germany and the plane crashed. His leg was amputated above the knee. The artificial leg was made by a fellow Canadian prisoner, a corporal from Wallaceburg. This corporal made several legs for prisoners which worked satisfactorily. He had had no experience. The metal parts were taken from the beds. NB: The ingenious knee and hip joints. Foot is articulated and the ankle has rubber stops. The elastic suspension bands were made from braces. This officer was able to walk exceptionally well...." [[Ref. 3]

Function

Served as functional imitation limb for above-knee amputee.

Technical

Artificial leg fashioned by WWII prisoner of war for fellow inmate, using materials from camp beds, pant suspenders, etc. Maker had no formal training or previous experience before producing several artificial limbs for other prisoners, which were functional and effective. This limb features articulated foot; shock-absorbing pads between ankle joint and foot; hinged knee and hip. [Ref. 3]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"9" (?) printed by hand in pencil on underside of foot. UHN catalogue no. "X946.1.1" printed by hand in white ink on metal band on underside of foot.

Missing

Red rubber strap linking toe and foot bed portion of foot is missing.

Finish

Unfinished carved wood foot and ankle block; silver metal [including steel] bands form vertical supports and knee and thigh supports; rubber pads and strapping cushion ankle and articulated foot; leather and fabric strap between thigh and knee joint has silver metal buckle; silver metal safety pins secure fabric covering over wool [?] padding.

Decoration

N/A