Artificial left arm, United States, 1915

Left below-elbow arm prosthesis with a wooden socket, connected by jointed side steels to a leather upper arm corset. The construction terminates in a metal mechanical hand which allows passive flexion and extension of the wrist combined with flexion and extension of the elbow. A hole in hand for cup fitment for driving vehicles has been added at a later date. Made c.1915 by the Carnes Arm Company from the United States of America, for issue in Britain to a serviceman who had lost a limb during the First World War, 1914-1918.

This artificial arm for a below-elbow amputee was made to a pre-First World War design developed by the Carnes Artificial Limb Company of Kansas City, USA. Perhaps its most ingenious feature is that when the elbow is bent the wrist can turn in a clockwise direction – very helpful when directing, say, food toward the mouth. When the elbow is straightened the wrist returns to its original position.

Unlike some other American manufacturers brought in to help deal with Britain’s overwhelming demand for replacement limbs during the First World War (1914-1918), Carnes initially stayed in America. There they simply exported limbs made to measurements that were sent across the Atlantic. Initially they were much sought after as after a period of dedicated training, it could allow the wearer to achieve a series of quite sophisticated movements that mimicked those of a living limb. But they were expensive and became known as the ‘officer’s arm’ as it tended to be officers who were issued them. Unlike rank and file soldiers, officers received a fixed allowance to spend on a limb which some had the private means to top up to afford a Carnes arm. Questions over this disparity were eventually raised in the UK parliament.

In practice, wearers found the Carnes arm difficult to master and too heavy to wear for long periods. Many ended up discarded and stored away – never to be worn again,