Skipman Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Does this mean ' Bayonet' wound to head, and left hand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelPack Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 The look like alphanumeric notations B70 & B75 plus the fact that the ditto markings under GSW suggest just that. Regards Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Thanks Mel. Any ideas what the B70 and B75 might mean? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 I read the ditto marks as meaning those are gunshot wounds as well. the B+number is a reference to the source of the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Mike He was wounded quite a few times during that month. 4 times I think. GSW or GunShot Wound meant more than a shooting. Shrapnel and splinters were also classed as GSWs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Thanks guys'n'gals. He was in the thick of it. Alex MacNaughton 52nd CEF His brother John Daniel MacNaughton was also killed, serving in the 1/5th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Johnson Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Here's a link to the war diary: http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netac...amp;r=1&f=G Note that the pages are out of order. Looks like a big attack on the 2nd June. Some of the wounded not recovered for three days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Thanks for the link Michael. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom A McCluskey Posted 15 March , 2009 Share Posted 15 March , 2009 "Mike He was wounded quite a few times during that month. 4 times I think. GSW or GunShot Wound meant more than a shooting. Shrapnel and splinters were also classed as GSWs." Geraint, Not strictly true. I think the medical report on the soldier would classify the identity and nature of his wound with greater detail than which you purport. In addition to asking the casualty how he received his wounds, as early as the Boer War, British military surgeons were quite aware of the different pathophysiologies of: high-velocity bullets*, low-velocity bullets, large bullets (Pom-Poms), shrapnel bullets, and shrapnel shards - plus any additional shipyard-confetti being blasted about. Shrapnel bullets and low-velocity bullets were often retained in the wound (as were ricochets and/or their fragmentary parts), due to their tendency to be aerodynamically inefficient. The nature of a wound produced by shrapnel shards often made them immediately identifiable. Basically, the amount of kinetic energy in the mass being propelled, and its shape, had a large effect on the type of wound received - along with where it struck, and the cross-sectional thickness & density of what it has to pass through. Concerning this, a shrapnel bullet gives a different entrance wound to that of a high-velocity bullet. Bear in mind though, that a high-velocity bullet, that has lost a great part of its inertia, is also likely to be retained. Also, a high-velocity bullet tends to indurate the entrance area. There is a wealth of pre-war information concerning this subject in: Colonel W F Stevenon's book Wounds in War, 1910; and Sir George Henry Makins's book Surgical Experiences in South Africa 1899-1900. *When I refer to high-velocity bullet, I mean that which is fired from a rifle or machine-gun. Aye Tom McC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian turner Posted 16 March , 2009 Share Posted 16 March , 2009 If they were indeed woundings from bullets then surely they can only have been grazes? If he had received penetrating bullet wounds then I would have expected him to have been taken out of action until healed. Here we are looking at 4 woundings over the best part of only two weeks. (And I guess equally applicable if splinter or shrapnel wounds). Edit: But now I have just re-read the original entries. Is this not in fact all one event - wounded in various places, and the dates refer to transfers to various medical facilities? Wimereux, Lincoln, Bear Woods (Wokingham)? If indeed wounding from one event then it is unlikely he was wounded four times from bullets in such diverse places and only grazed (he was back on strength the following month). It sounds more like splinters/sharpnel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 16 March , 2009 Share Posted 16 March , 2009 I think you are right Ian. I would imagine when seen immediately after the wounds, it would be difficult to tell exactly what they were, and labelled Gunshot wounds. As he got further back the wound would be cleaned and a more accurate diagnosis could be made. He was injured 4th June shrapnel from a shell. I was unsure if he had been 'bayoneted' He died in 1919 in Canada with war related injuries. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian turner Posted 16 March , 2009 Share Posted 16 March , 2009 Mike There you have it - these were his injuries from the shrapnel shell. As mentioned already, they were uniformly described as gunshot wounds, irrespective of whether caused by bullets or not. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 16 March , 2009 Share Posted 16 March , 2009 Ian Re-reading again - he was wounded four in six places. Must have been light grazes - he's back on strength within a few days. 13. 6 in left hand and right arm 15. 6 in head 22. 6 in left hand (could be ref to wound on 13. 6) 23. 6 Back on strength 2. 7 GSW head and arm 7. 7 Back on strength Tom I'm certain that GSW was a quick shorthand notation for any penetrative wound caused by a fired weapon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 16 March , 2009 Share Posted 16 March , 2009 Hi Geraint and Ian. I have the man's full service record. I'm not very good at reading them so can post more of it if that helps. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian turner Posted 16 March , 2009 Share Posted 16 March , 2009 No, I think he weas wounded on 4th June in the various places all at once. The dates are his admission to the various hospitals: 5 June at Wimereux 9 June Folkestone 11 June Lincoln 18 June Wokingham Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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