NAM.1960-02-3-1

Surgical saw, 1815 (c). Used by Sgn James Powell, Ordnance Medical Department, at the Battle of Waterloo to amputate the leg of Lt Gen Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge. Associated with Napoleonic Wars, Waterloo (1815). Paget was wounded in the leg at the close of the battle and taken to the village of Waterloo where the operation was performed. Uxbridge remained composed throughout the operation and once remarked that he did not think the saw was very sharp! It is said that some years later Uxbridge later revisited the place with two of his sons, found the table on which the operation had taken place, and ate dinner off it.

Waterloo, Battle of, 1815 (Napoleonic Wars, Waterloo 1815)