CRUTCHES have always been used in one form or another to help injured or ill people get around.

The basic design of these aids have not changed since ancient times when those who needed crutches used branches of trees and added padding for underarm support for comfort.

The first commercially produced crutches appeared in the early 20th Century and one of these was the Wantage Adjustable Crutch. This was an adjustable crutch patented in 1916 by Dr William Dunmore Loveday, a retired Wantage doctor. These crutches were produced at five shillings a pair and were built on the principle that the bodyweight should be supported by the hands and arms and not left to press upon the armpit.

The Wantage Crutch was in use throughout the country during the Great War 1914-1918 and was also supplied to French wounded soldiers. They were made in Wantage at the Crutch Works. This was the premises of Barlow Dobbs and Barlow builders and undertakers in Church Street. The building is presently occupied by Knapps funeral directors. Brothers Harry and Frank Barlow had contracts with the War Office and the British Red Cross Society for more than 1,000 crutches. In June 1916 they were employing around seven men producing 100 pairs a week for the war effort. Other local carpenters involved in producing the crutches included Harry Capel and Frank Heybourne. The crutches I have seen are are individually numbered and the largest number seen so far is 57,836. Several thousand pairs of crutches were made during the First World War but the exact number is unknown.

The source of all this industry, Dr William Loveday, was practising as a surgeon/ doctor in Wantage at the beginning of the 20th Century. Born at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, in 1864, he lived at Becket House in Wallingford Street with his wife Lilian (née Wix). By the time of the Great War he was retired, but in 1916 he was Medical Superintendent of St Katharine's Red Cross Hospital in Wantage with more than 500 patients. He was also a member or sometime chairman for the local tribunal for hearing recruiting cases under Lord Derby’s Recruiting Scheme.

Awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) as designer of the Wantage Adjustable Crutch in the June 1918 Honours List, Dr Loveday OBE MRCS, LRCP finally retired to Eastbourne in the 1920s. His inventive mind continued and he patented a design for spring wire clips for using newspapers in 1931. He died on April 13, 1932, in Hartley Witney Hampshire.

Research is still ongoing into this little known story relating to Wantage in WW1 so if anyone can add to this, I would like to hear from them.

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