13 July 2015

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

The youngest surviving member of the Guinea Pig Club, Jack Perry, returned to East Grinstead on Saturday to celebrate his 90th birthday with family and friends. Included in the party were former and current members of the Town Council who have supported the Guinea Pig Club over many years.

Jack was injured and sustained burns to his face and hands when his Halifax bomber crashed during the second world war. He was brought to the Queen Victoria Hospital and treated by Archibald McIndoe. Jack was just nineteen when he was injured. He became one of the founder members of the world famous Guinea Pig Club and has acted as their social secretary organising events and reunions through to the present day. Next year the Club will celebrate its 75th anniversary. Jack went on to a successful career as a draughtsman at Plessey and later at the Atomic Energy Establishment at Harwell.

The Guinea Pig club originally had a total number of 649 members and their names appear on the plaque at the Queen Victoria Hospital. There are now 39 survivors world wide and of these 23 live in the UK. Jack is the youngest at 90 and Des O’Connell the oldest at 96.

East Grinstead is the home of the Guinea Pig Club and the statue of McIndoe now proudly stands in the High Street. All the instruments invented by McIndoe and the story of the work he pioneered is stored at the Town Museum. The Museum are working to gain funding for a new display project so that the story of the Guinea Pigs and McIndoe can be put on view to the public. Cllr Bob Mainstone, a Museum Trustee, commented, “It was an honour to celebrate with Jack on the occasion of his 90th birthday and it is important that the Museum will be able to bring Jack’s amazing story of the Guinea Pig Club and the great work of Archibald McIndoe to the residents and visitors to the town. It is a question of raising enough funds to secure the future of the Museum and tell this incredible story of our town’s history.”

Group of family and friends – jack seated with his wife Mary.

Jack Perry with two trustees of the Town Museum. Bob Marchant, Secretary of the Guinea Pig Club, and Cllr Bob Mainstone, Town and District Councillor.