THESE images might look like scenes from an early horror movie but they're actually rare pictures of pioneering plastic surgery.

Plymouth sailor Walter Yeo was one of the first to receive the ground-breaking treatment after sustaining terrible facial injuries during World War One.

His treatment by surgeon Sir Harold Gillies is among the cases interpreted by artist Paddy Hartley for a major exhibition at the National Army Museum.

Paddy, 37, has told the stories of the men's injuries and treatment through haunting sculptures using army, navy and air force uniforms digitally embroidered with maps, texts, photos and surgeons' drawings.

Now he is appealing for any of Walter's relatives or friends of the family still living in Plymouth to get in contact.

"I'm keen to find out how he and his family coped with the consequences of his injuries and subsequent surgery," he said.

"The First World War was a war dominated by high explosives and heavy artillery.

"Casualties included an unprecedented number with horrific facial injuries – injuries so severe the men were commonly unrecognisable to loved ones and friends. Often unable to see, hear, speak, eat or drink, they struggled to re-assimilate back into civilian life.

"This secondary tragedy – the living unable to 'live' – catalysed surgeon Sir Harold Gillies to transform the fledgling discipline of plastic surgery based on his unrivalled observation of the profoundly wounded and his ability to push the parameters of the profession beyond all known techniques."

Since 2004, Paddy has researched and interpreted the personal and surgical stories of servicemen who underwent this pioneering treatment under the care of Gillies, considered the father of modern-day facial reconstructive surgery.

Walter Yeo came from a naval family; his father was one of 147 men who died when the torpedo cruiser HMS Serpent sank off Spain in 1890.

A gunnery warrant officer in HMS Warspite, Walter suffered cordite burns during the Battle of Jutland in 1916, losing his upper and lower eyelids.

At Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Gillies was developing new, untried techniques to treat the injuries created by this new kind of war, taking grafts from undamaged areas of flesh, in particular tubular 'pedicles' from the forehead, scalp, chest, neck or shoulders but retaining a connection to allow blood flow. Walter's mask-like graft is shown in the pictures above, both shortly after surgery and subsequently, once healed.

Paddy's exhibition, Faces Of Battle, opens at the NAM in Chelsea on November 10.

If you have information about Walter, email projectfacade@ mac.com. The website is at www.projectfacade.com.