Royal Naval Division casualty - what does 'SLT' mean?

[Bernard_Lewis]

George Prowse VC was wounded a couple of times earlier in the war. His service record (downloaded from Kew) says of one of his wounds:

'GSW.VI.I.L.Side.VIII.I L.Shldr.Slt.NOK Inf...'

I assume this means gun-shot (or shrapnel?) wound left side, no idea what the Roman numerals mean. The 'Slt' I take to mean 'slight' though another source says the wound(s) was 'severe'. NOK is clear...

He was wounded 23 April 1917 and went back to a reserve battalion on 12 July 1917. Does that equate to 'severe' I wonder? What about the Roman numerals?

There is also mention of his being entitled to 'detained pay' - any idea what that means?

Any comment gratefully received.

Bernard

[michaeldr]

Slt = Slight

My grandfather's BW to the neck was also described as 'slight'

though it gained him a month on Malta

As my father remarked 'Only someone who has never been shot in the neck, could describe such a thing as 'slight'!'

regards

grandson of TZ89

[Bernard_Lewis]

Cheers Michaeldr.

I suspected that but a good write up elsewhere describes it as 'severe'. I think it is slight. Took a time to heal, I guess.

Anyone else have an opinion on that plus the Roman numerals etc?

Bernard

[michaeldr]

Bernard,

this is just a guess, but do the Roman Numerals refer to the ribs, and to the entry point and exit point of the projectile?

A case where the projectile had not lodged in the body, but rather it had exited the same, might then be described as 'slight' in so far as all of these things are relative

A bullet which remained lodged in the body and required therefore further surgery to remove it was inevitably much more serious.

Good luck

Michael

[SiegeGunner]

See post #1 on this previous thread .... http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32925&st=0&p=263048entry263048

[Bernard_Lewis]

Wow! That's handy!

Cheers chums.

Bernard

[Bernard_Lewis]

This contradicts another story about him but is the right answer. Cheers folks, very helpful, as usual.

Bernard

[SiegeGunner]

Looking again at the previous thread I cited above, I see that post #12 shows a register entry for several casualties where their wounds are all described as 'GSW', but are then followed in brackets by (Shell), (Shrapnel) and (Bullet) ... which seems to confirm that all projectile wounds were classified as 'GSW' and were further differentiated where possible or where relevant. I guess there also ought to be further GSW categories for wounds attributable to grenades and to miscellaneous flying debris (stones, bits of wood, fragments of equipment, etc).