Gueules cassées


'''Gueules cassées''' (broken faces) is a French term for facially disfigured war veterans. It was coined in World War I by Colonel Yves Picot after he was denied entry to a gathering for the war-disabled.

About 15,000 French soldiers after World War I could be called gueules cassées. At first, head injuries were not considered survivable, but with advances in [[plastic surgery]] some gueules cassées could be returned to normal. Facially disfigured vets were initially denied support and veteran's benefits, but that changed later. Yves Picot founded a union for gueules cassées in 1921 that still exists today.

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