Wound Classification

[Promenade]

Ever wondered how the Army classified wounds in the Great War?

I have always wondered how wounds were classified having seen references in paperwork. I recently came across the key which works as follows e.g. IV. 4 (penetrating gsw chest) or VIII. 4. humerus (compound fracture of the humerus). I have typed out the classifications for those researchers who wish to 'cut and keep'.

Joe

Classification of wounds and injuries

I. Gunshot wounds of the head

1. Contusions and simple flesh wounds of the scalp

2. With fracture of the cranium without depression

3. With fracture of the cranium with depression

4. Penetrating the cranium

5. Perforating the cranium

II. Gunshot wounds of the face

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. With fracture

3. Fracture with lesion

4. With fracture of the lower jaw

III. Gunshot wounds of the neck

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. With injury of the . . . .

IV. Gunshot wounds of the chest

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. With injury of bony or cartilaginous parietes without lesion of contents

3. With lesion of contents by contusion, or with non-penetrating wound

4. Penetrating

5. Implicating contents

V. Gunshot wounds of the abdomen

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. Contusion or non-penetrating wound with lesion of . . .

3. Penetrating or perforating, with lesion of . . .

VI. Gunshot wounds of the back and spine

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. With fracture of vertebra, without lesion of spinal cord

3. With fracture and lesion of spinal cord

VII. Gunshot contusions and wounds of the perineum and genital urinary organs, not being at the same time wounds of the peritoneum

VIII. Gunshot wounds of the upper extremities

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. With contusion or fracture of long bones

3. Simple fracture of long bones by contusion

4. Compound fracture of . . . .

IX. Gunshot wounds of the lower extremities

1. Simple flesh contusions and wounds

2. With contusion or fracture of long bones

3. Simple fracture of long bones by contusion

4. Compound fracture of . . . .

X. Gunshot wounds with direct injury of the large arteries not being at the same time cases of compound fracture.

XI. Gunshot wounds with direct penetration or perforation of the larger joints.

XII. Gunshot wounds with direct injury of the large nerves not being at the same time cases of compound fracture.

XIII. Wounds caused by sword or lance

XIV. Bayonet wounds

XV. Miscellaneous Wounds

[Ozzie]

Amazing! Did this have any bearing on pensions after the war ? ie. amount of damage to the body?

Kim

[Muerrisch]

Many thanks. What is the reference please?

[sandyford]

Excellent Joe,

Thank you so much for this useful listing.

Kate

[Bob Coulson]

Nice one Joe, very useful.

Thanks.

Bob.

[Steven Broomfield]

Fascinating - well done and thanks.

[Ken Lees]

Very useful, Joe. Thanks.

Where do you find references to wounds using these classifications?

I haven't come across anything more specific that 'GSW' so far.

Regards,

Ken

[jhill]

These are quite interesting. I assume, however, that these were not universally used in the field. For example, see this snippet from the June, 1917 diary of No. 3 Cdn. C.C.S. (Remy). One would have expected to see the codes here instead if they were in widespread, common use. Perhaps they were used back at base to compile statistics.

It is a good topic for further research.

[Promenade]

All,

The source for the above information is not known. A friend of mine sent me a photo of a page that he had found at the NA, I believe that it came from MH106 (the medical records - I think it was in one of the admissions books). I can see where people are coming from ie what AO was this etc? I have looked at the photo of the page and can see no reference at all. Although the use of this terminolgy is not universal I came across the codes the other day (not for the first time) when going through an officer's papers and was able to break out the details - the codes were used on a 'Casualty Form' within the papers. It was this use that prompted me to share the information with others.

Joe

[Sue Light]

I too have a photocopy of this page. As Joe suggested, they are printed inside the front covers of the CCS and Field Ambulance admission and discharge registers in MH106. I haven't looked at any register that then goes on to use them in the description of injuries, but as such a small proportion remain, perhaps some of them did. I can imagine that when the register was being filled out for an idividual, with another 499 men waiting to be admitted, the clerks were hardly going to be bothered with whether a fracture was simple or compound, or if there was nerve damage caused by gun shot wounds. It seems like a really good idea that was not feasible to put into practice very often. Perhaps they were used more often at a later stage on a man's medical card, or perhaps in some medical board reports.

Sue

[sandyford]

I understand that these classifications are physical wounds.

We have discussed in the past whether 'shell shock' or gassing was classed as a wound. I see that there is no category for these cases in this listing, even though they must have presented along with the gunshots etc.

Perhaps there was even some sorting about where the shell shock and gassing cases went in the first place.

Kate

[Owen Hales]

Ever wondered how the Army classified wounds in the Great War?

I have always wondered how wounds were classified having seen references in paperwork. I recently came across the key which works as follows e.g. IV. 4 (penetrating gsw chest) or VIII. 4. humerus (compound fracture of the humerus). I have typed out the classifications for those researchers who wish to 'cut and keep'.

Joe

Thank You Joe for having the foresight to post this. I was at TNA the other day looking at a CCS Admissions Register using digital camera. In my haste I failed to actually read the page and the headings thereon so when I got home was miffed to find reference to the flyleaf. Thanks to Joe I do not have to revisit. I knew I could rely on this site. Attached is sample of the Classifications as entered for individual casualties, it also indicates, if wounds caused by bullet, shrapnel, shell etc. Got the full page if anyone wants.

Ta v much

Owen Hales

[anthony osborne]

What classification would loss of limb fall under I wonder? My Great Grand Father lost an arm in April 1918.

[saw119]

It's not always, or it seems that important, how a soldier was injured. My great Grandfather was invalided out of the army due to wounds which were caused by shrapnel in one report and are simply GSW 'attrib' in another report. I don't think the detail, on that level, really mattered.

[WolvercoteWW1]

This is a fascinating thread. I am helping a friend research his grandfather, Pte Kenneth Campbell Newby (s/n 278390), wounded 11th Sept 1918 with 10th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders near Attilly, a village West of St Quentin. He had a serious hip/pelvis wound that had not healed 60 years later. We are confident he was treated at either 5th or 41st CCS at Proyart, and taken on AT No.30 to Rouen on 12th Sept. We're not sure which hospital he stayed in there, but was evacuated to the UK on 14th Oct 1918. Staying thereafter at a hospital in Southampton (University War Hospital) and then 2nd Scottish Gen Hospital in Edinburgh. His medical discharge mentions a GSW to abdomen and rheumatism with 50% disability on 28th Oct 1919. Would anyone be able to advise on how do you track down the admissions registers for CCS's and AT's, and which hospital in Rouen? We'd like to be certain of his treatment/evacuation journey. It's interesting to see GSW being used in other posts, with the cause being either bullet, shell or shrapnel. We'd assumed a bullet caused his injury. Many thanks

[david murdoch]

On 27/05/2005 at 09:49, Ozzie said:

Amazing! Did this have any bearing on pensions after the war ? ie. amount of damage to the body?

Kim

The pension was calculated on % disability (determined by examinations and the medical board) rather than the type of wound and also length of time to recover full function or if permanent (eg loss of a limb ect).