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 coated paper tape strips cushion ankle and articulated foot; leather strip and elastic fabric band secure two portions of articulated foot; fabric covering over wool padding on support bands; khaki canvas (?) and brown leather boot shank lined with raw (?) wool forms knee receptacle, and has metal eyelets.

Dimensions

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

Length

67.0 cm

Width

15.0 cm

Height

26.5 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 W/O John Somerville. 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." [Excerpt from Ref. 3]

Function

Served as functional imitation limb for below-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 and foot; and hinged support below knee [Ref. 3] Lace-up receptacle for knee appears fashioned from upper portion of a boot.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

UHN catalogue no. "X946.1.2" printed by hand in white ink on metal band on underside of foot. "AM/ 3944" printed by hand in pencil on white label applied to upper portion of limb.

Missing

None evident.

Finish

Unfinished carved wood foot and ankle block; silver metal [including steel] bands form vertical supports and knee and thigh supports; rubber pads and coated paper tape strips cushion ankle and articulated foot; leather strip and elastic fabric band secure two portions of articulated foot; fabric covering over wool padding on support bands; khaki canvas (?) and brown leather boot shank lined with raw (?) wool forms knee receptacle, and has metal eyelets

Decoration

N/A