William Kelsey Fry

Sir William Kelsey Fry (18 March 1889–26 October 1963) was a British dental surgeon who, with Harold Gillies, was an important figure in the development of oral and maxillofacial surgery during World War I. On qualifying as a doctor and a dental surgeon in 1914 he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and served in World War I as a regimental medical officer attached to the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Fry landed in France with the 7th Division in October 1914. He was wounded during the Battle of Festubert in May 1915 while carrying out his work under heavy fire and was awarded the Military Cross. At Aldershot Gillies and Fry put together a multidisciplinary team that treated both bony and soft tissue elements in the development of this new medical specialty. In 1917 they continued this work at the newly established Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup,

During World War II Fry worked with Archibald McIndoe at the maxillofacial and plastic unit of the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. During this time Fry was a civilian consultant in dental surgery in the E.M.S., and had a leading role in establishing treatment centres for maxillo-facial injuries throughout the United Kingdom. He was appointed a civilian consultant to the Royal Air Force and the Ministry of Health. In 1948 he was awarded the diploma FDS by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and from that year until his death Fry was a member of the Board of Faculty of Dental Surgery there, and was Dean of the Faculty (1950-53). On his retirement from Guy's Hospital in 1949 he became a Lecturer in Oral Surgery at the Eastman Dental Institute. He was appointed CBE in 1948 and was knighted in 1951. Fry became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1953, and in 1955 he was made a D.Sc by McGill University. Until just before his death Fry served as a member of the Board of Governors of Guy's Hospital and the S.E. Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In his later years he was an enthusiastic golfer.

Sir William Kelsey Fry died at his home in Bexhill-on-Sea in 1963 leaving a widow, Lady Hannah Ruby Fry (1891-1979), and a son, Ian Kelsey Fry (1923-2018), who had followed him into the medical profession.

Kelsey Fry Road in Gun Hill Park in Aldershot is named to commemorate him.