Guided tour

For visitors who wish to be navigated around the space, please click on the video below for the International Stoke Mandeville Games gallery guided tour.

For screen reader users to follow is the wall panel text and audio descriptions for the 3D models or you can download the text as a Microsoft Word document. 

Birth of the Paralympics through wheelchair sport

In 1943, Dr Ludwig Guttmann became director of the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. As part of revolutionary changes to medical care and rehabilitation programmes, he introduced sports like archery and wheelchair netball for spinal injury patients. Sporting activity brought huge physical benefits to the patients as well as boosting morale and mental well-being. The desire to compete naturally followed. 

This gallery traces the origins of the Paralympic Games from 1948 to the 1960s, exploring the experiences of both international attendees and local people through oral histories, photos and objects from our collection. Over these years, the number of nations and athletes participating grew dramatically, beginning in 1948 with 16 competitors from Britain, and reaching an early peak in 1957 with 360 competitors from 24 nations competing. In the early Stoke Mandeville Games the Paralympic Movement was born, demonstrating the capabilities of wheelchair athletes on the world stage.

 

Origins of the Games

Sports like archery and netball, popular with many patients, played a key role in boosting physical fitness and mental wellbeing, and quickly led to competitions with outside teams.

On 29th July 1948, an archery demonstration was hosted for paraplegic patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Two teams of eight competed - six men and two women from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and eight men from the Royal Star and Garter Home in Richmond, Surrey. The date was chosen to deliberately coincide with the opening ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games. Enthusiasm led to another Games held in July 1949, initiating an annual event. 

The Games became popular with national and international competitors in the 1950s. To meet demand, new accommodation and facilities for athletes were constructed from 1955 and separate national and international Games were established in 1958.

 

Representing home

Athletes in the early Stoke Mandeville Games were people recovering from spinal injuries in rehabilitation units across the UK. Some of the first international competitors were people being cared for in England. Emanuel Kanakakis, a Greek citizen based at Chaseley Home in Sussex, competed at the second Games in 1949.

Charlene Todman was the first Australian athlete, and one of the earliest female athletes, to compete at the Stoke Mandeville Games. She came to Stoke Mandeville for treatment at the hospital in 1950, following a horse-riding accident aged 14. She finished second in the women’s archery event at the 1951 Games. She continued to take part in the Games until the 1970s and advocated for wheelchair sport on her return to Australia.

 

The Games go international

The Games became truly international in 1952, when a team of four athletes, a physiotherapist and a nursing sister attended from the Doorn Military Rehabilitation Centre in Aardenburg, the Netherlands. Their inclusion kickstarted ambitions for the Games to become the disabled equivalent of the Olympic Games.

Gérard M. van Opdorp was one of the four visiting athletes. Scoring 349 points across the archery events, he earned the prize for the highest score by an international competitor. Despite the Dutch being the only international team, the organisers clearly wanted to mark 1952 as the first international competition.

 

1952 Cap

One of the earliest items in our collection is this cap, worn by one of the British competitors at the 1952 Stoke Mandeville Games.

Co-created audio description

The cap is made of wool and is slightly fuzzy to the touch. It makes some of us nostalgic and is like something a school pupil, scout, or cricketer would wear. In the centre, above the peak, is a fabric shield. The shield feels very different to the rest of the hat. The stitching is uneven and done by hand, which jars with the machine-made nature of the rest of the cap. We imagine this was a machine-made cap that was later repurposed with a badge to mark the 1952 Stoke Mandeville Games.

Object reflection by Teri Stevens (NPHT Volunteer)

To me, the cap created for the 1952 Games is a symbol of professional competition, of disability and athleticism, and of participation and pride. As someone interested in the development of the Paralympic Games, I see the cap as a visible milestone in the Games’ transition from recreational sport to the branded mega-event it is today.  

 

International differences

The International Stoke Mandeville Games were among the first organised competitions for wheelchair sport. Accordingly, rules and equipment were still being defined and standardised across different countries.

American athletes followed rules for wheelchair basketball that were adapted from the non-disabled sport. However, at Stoke Mandeville visiting American teams found the basket was smaller and lower, lacked a backboard, and players were not allowed to dribble. Despite these differences, the American Pan Am Jets thoroughly defeated the English and Dutch teams at the 1955 Stoke Mandeville Games. This was attributed to their greater experience and lightweight wheelchairs.

When the American team returned for the 1956 Stoke Mandeville Games, they found the rules had been modified to better reflect American wheelchair basketball. 

 

Growing influence

The international profile of the Games developed rapidly over the 1950s. Dr Guttmann would promote the Games at international medical conferences, providing evidence of the benefits of sport and challenging colleagues to bring teams to the Games.

Dr Guttmann reiterated the core message of the Games in the 1958 Games programme: 

There are still many corners of the Earth where paraplegics have not yet been brought into the fold of society. We must therefore continue our efforts until paraplegics all over the world are united with us in the brotherhood of man. What greater joy than to know that you have been pioneers in that achievement!

 

Photo mural and Oral histories

This wall features photographs from the early Stoke Mandeville Games. These images have been provided by World Abilitysport and WheelPower - British Wheelchair Sport. 

This wall also contains interviews with people who attended the Stoke Mandeville Games in the 1950s and 1960s.

1. Eva Loeffler, daughter of Dr Guttmann, volunteering at the Games
2. Margaret Bullivant, widow of fencing coach Les Veale, describing the atmosphere of the early Games
3. Glyn Jones, Mary Moran and Pat Foster, reflecting on Paddy and Ron's journey to the Paralympics.

 

Neighbourhood support

Christine Pittman-Corner was one of many local people to volunteer at the Stoke Mandeville Games.

(We) cleaned out the four prefabricated huts used to house visiting paraplegic teams, then (made) up beds etc. During the Games we dished up meals which were delivered from the main hospital kitchen and generally made ourselves useful.

Christine and her friends first volunteered in 1955 and continued to do so until 1960.

We had a lot of fun in the evenings when impromptu social get-togethers would take place and friends were made.

She began to visit the athletes on the wards, and later worked as an administrator, becoming part of the family at the hospital. The Stoke Mandeville Games could not have taken place without the support of local volunteers like Christine. 

 

Locally sourced

Athletes, medical staff, and local residents all helped to prepare for and deliver the Games. Objects from the early Games reflect their homegrown nature. Early medals were made by patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital (as featured in our other galleries) and clothing was handmade and customised with flags and badges.

Baroness Masham’s jacket

Co-created audio description

This is a tracksuit top made of a light, synthetic material. The top is decorated with flags on the front and felt letters on the back. There is a variation in quality of the hand-stitching between each badge and the letters, implying each were added at different times. We know the jacket belonged to Baroness Masham. She competed at many events in the 1960s, including the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games, the International Stoke Mandeville Games and the Paralympics.

Object reflection by Esther Jones PLY

It is not like modern branded sportswear, which are made from lightweight materials that support performance. I remember seeing Paralympic athletes who competed in the 1988 Games in the same tracksuits as the Olympic Team. I was really impressed we had the same kit.

The Great Britain flag on this jacket also reminds me of the pride I felt getting my kit when I had been selected to represent the United Kingdom. I am sure athletes past and present have felt the same way.

 

International development

Medical professionals and athletes who visited the International Stoke Mandeville Games soon became inspired to bring disability sport to their countries. Notably, visits from Italian and Japanese medical professionals led to the first Stoke Mandeville Games to be held in Olympic host cities – the first Paralympic Games in Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964.

The video shows footage of international athletes and attendees at one of the International Stoke Mandeville Games in the early 1960s.

 

Celebrations

Many were keen to celebrate Guttmann, the achievements of his rehabilitation programmes and the Games. Iconic commemorations include a portrait of Guttmann revealed on the 21st anniversary of the National Spinal Injuries Centre, and the Fearnley Cup, an award given by the Olympic Committee to Guttmann in 1956 for embodying the Olympic Spirit.

A more personal gift may have been a wooden shield, presented to Guttmann by members of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF) in 1958, marking the 10th anniversary of the 1948 Games which kickstarted the Paralympic Movement.

This object has been loaned by World Abilitysport, the successors to the ISMGF.

1948 – 1958 Shield

Co-created audio description

This is a wooden shield marking the first decade of the International Stoke Mandeville Games. The shield is a rich brown colour, appearing glossy due to a varnish. The design on the shield is clearly hand-carved and retains the marks of the tool on the surface. The design features the Stoke Mandeville Games Flag and the Fearnley Cup. At the bottom of the shield is a small metal plaque, which shows the shield was presented to Dr Guttmann by D Bell, J Scruton, C Atkinson and Q Hill in 1958.

Object reflection by Rudi Van Den Abbeele

At first glance this shield may be seen as the gratitude to Dr Guttmann in 1958 by his most close collaborators Joan Scruton, Charlie Atkinson and Thomas Hill with reference to the first Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948. However, the presence of the Olympic rings demonstrates already their dream, ambition to join one day the biggest showcase in sport ... a dream which became reality 30 years later.

  

Legacy of the Games

The Games continue to be a growing source of inspiration in the modern day.

Richard Mills, who was a patient at the spinal unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 2025, took an interest in the history of the Games. He donated a 1959 Games medal he purchased online. It would have been made by patients at Stoke Mandeville. He reflected:

I found the auction listing just as I first played wheelchair basketball as part of my physiotherapy.  I can’t imagine giving an achievement like this away! I initially assumed it was fake as it was in such good condition. But the drilled hole and engraving felt semi-professional – as if made by someone like me at the spinal unit. I found out that this would have belonged to a British athlete, but we don’t know who. There is still so much to find out about those early athletes.

 

Thank you

This work has only been possible through collaboration, and we thank the following individuals and organisations:

• Esther Jones PLY, Richard Mills, Teri Stevens, Glyn Jones, Mary Moran and Pat Foster for their reflections
• Wheelpower - British Wheelchair Sport, the Spinal Injuries Association and World Abilitysport for sharing their collections
• Museum trainees Simon for object audio descriptions, audio recording, and interpretation; Ben for object photogrammetry, and Thomas for audio recording and image audio description
• NPHT staff and trainees for audio recordings

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