Wound Stripes

[andrew pugh]

Good Evening All, Happy New Year to you.

Does anyone know how long it took for a soldier to apply for the paper work to claim a wound stripe up until he received the wound stripe to sow on. What was the time period.

If anyone knows it would be of importance to some research i am doing. 

Kind Regards

Andy    

[mark holden]

Hi Andy,

 

I have seen authority to wear wound stripes recorded in soldiers pay books but I have no details about the time from wounding to 'award'. I surmise that this would depend on when battalion casualty rolls were compiled and to an extent the severity  of the wound. A light wound might result in a soldier 'remaining at duty' or being treated in the theatre of operations or in a base hospital or UK all such circumstances would affect when the stripe was actually sewn to his uniform.

 

Regards

 

Mark

[TEW]

The criteria for receiving a wound stripe is to appear in a WO Official Casualty List. That process normally took 3-4 weeks but could be longer. There were also criteria for appearing in those lists which would exclude light wounds and those 'remains at duty.

I have seen service records that indicate the issue of a wound stripe but would have to find an example and compare the date with the Casualty List.

TEW

[ss002d6252]

A lot would depend on how quickly the paperwork was done and how quickly they issued the actual stripe to the soldier.

 

The would likely be a massive variation in the time as the wound stripe would not be high on the list of priorities for the army when there were other things to deal with.

[Chris_Baker]

That's a good question. Would his unit's QM been issued with a stock of them? In other words, could it be a very straightforward - here's my name on a list > fill in a chit > get it signed by authority > hand it to QM > get stripe?

[tullybrone]

Should WW2 Canadian Army process be similar to WW1 British Army perhaps this is the answer to the query posed.

 

Steve

 

https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/insignia/woundstripes.htm

Edited 31 December , 2019 by tullybrone

[FROGSMILE]

39 minutes ago, Chris_Baker said:

That's a good question. Would his unit's QM been issued with a stock of them? In other words, could it be a very straightforward - here's my name on a list > fill in a chit > get it signed by authority > hand it to QM > get stripe?

 

That was certainly the system.  Once an item was officially on the nomenclatured list of badges officially authorised at public expense then a supply was held in the QMs clothing store.  During periods in the line the battalion store was usually close to the Division HQ under the control of the RQMS at Rear Echelon.  The QM was generally more forward closer to Brigade in a Forward Echelon. Battalions within the same formation generally grouped these echelons as practically as possible without creating a large artillery target.

Edited 31 December , 2019 by FROGSMILE

[FROGSMILE]

3 minutes ago, tullybrone said:

Should WW2 Canadian Army process be similar to WW1 British Army perhaps this is the answer to the query posed.

 

Steve

 

https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/insignia/woundstripes.htm

 

The Admin Instr shown relates to WW2 and I think that in WW1 the 'process' was not necessarily identical, Steve, although the principles would have been the same.

[andrew pugh]

Thank you All for replying.

I have a list of casualties belonging to the 17th Bn (Empires) Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment of whom I am trying to eliminate from a case that i am working on.There are 42 casualties belonging to the 17th Battalion who were killed between the 24th/26 March 1918.I strongly believe my Great Uncle is buried as an unknown Private of the Royal Fusiliers in Bancourt British Cemetery, he belonged to the 24th Battalion (2nd Sportsmen) City of London Regiment. and was killed on the 24/03/1918. We have a photograph of him wearing 2 Wound Stripes.I have been working on this case for several years. On the 24/03/1918 the 24th Battalion suffered 5 casualties,an officer 2nd Lt Nyren, Sergeant Rendell, Corporal Glew, Private Cunningham and Private Morrell our Great Uncle.In Late September 1919 a grave site was discovered which contained 22 casualties.They were discovered by the 182nd Labour Coy in late September 1919.There were no Officers found at this site, but there were 4 Royal Fusilier casualties one of whom was identified at the time Sgt Rendell 24th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. He is now buried in a named grave in Bancourt British Cemetery. A little further along there is an Unknown Royal Fusilier Corporal  and 2 Unknown Royal Fusilier Privates. All these 4 Royal Fusilier Casualties matching in rank and number show up in 3 locations, Battalion War Diary casualty list for the 24/03/1918, found at grave site 57c.I.32.c.8.0 and are now all buried in Bancourt British Cemetery. Coincidence?.Still working on this. Going back to the Wound Stripe saga. I am sure at some point i will be informed by the authorities that the unknown Cpl and the 2 unknown Privates could have been casualties of the 17th Battalion. To prove this not to be the case i have researched each of the 42 casualties killed on the dates mentioned earlier I have eliminated most of them because they have named graves,because of rank, some because of there battalions location and several because they were only in service for such a short period of time before being killed some for just as little as a week.That's why i wanted to ask about the wound stripe question.Your information given is most helpful. I have now reduced the 42 17th Battalion casualties down to 6 or 7.Using the casualty list containing the 22 casualties over the last 5 years i have managed to identify 2 other casualties. Cpl Thomas Houston MM bar 2nd H L I 24/03/1918 and most recently L/Cpl Brunton Smth 1/8th Royal Scots 24/03/1918. A re dedication service is being arranged by the authorities hopefully for the 24/03/2020. There is going to be a large part of his family who want to attend, should be a good day. Once again thank you all for help, and wish you all Happy Healthy Prosperous New Year in 2020.

Kind Regards

Andy