1948 International Wheelchair Games

Guttmann was a great believer in sport as a method of therapy, using it to help build physical strength and self-respect. Working with the World War II veterans under his care, he got the wheelchair-bound men playing sports including hockey, netball, archery and javelin throw. As London was hosting the 1948 Olympic Games, Guttman scheduled Stoke Mandeville's own sporting competition to coincide with the event's opening day: 28 July 1948. The participants at the 1948 International Wheelchair Games were just a small gathering of British war veterans, no international element as yet - but it was to be the start of something great.

Pictured: 6 August 1953 - A Dutch archery team practise for the 1953 Wheelchair Olympics at Stoke Mandeville