Wounded Stripe

[Dave B]

WW1 No.4 Wounded Stripe.

For wounds received.

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[Paul R]

Where were these worn on the uniform?

[leigh kitchen]

Where were these worn on the uniform?

Worn vertically, lower left sleeve

[Ed_Haynes]

Worn vertically, lower left sleeve

Yes, and this is why they weren't worn in forces where the uniform included no lower left sleeve.

[Paul R]

Thanks guys!

Are these still used today?

[leigh kitchen]

I'm fairly certain that these were no longer to be worn after 1922.

[Ed_Haynes]

I'm fairly certain that these were no longer to be worn after 1922.

They were certainly used in WWII. Cannot say beyond that.

[leigh kitchen]

I think that the wound badges issued during WWII were only in braid, not in metal, with a red braid version representing WWI or other pre - WWII wounds, a gold version WWII wounds.

[Tony]

I read somewhere online that Canada reinstated a cloth version in the 90s. Can anyone confirm this?

Tony

Edited November 29, 2006 by Tony

[Guest Rick Research]

A pair of circa 1918 veteran C.E.F. frontline Lance Corporals, each with one wound stripe on their left sleeves, among front service chevrons and specialty ratings:

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Despite the Machine Gun Corps cap badge, this fellow with his nurse or maybe his sister, was from a Highland regiment earlier in the war. Note the wound stripe on the left sleeve of what I believe was a form of ambulatory military hospital clothing, NOT a civilian suit:

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[leigh kitchen]

Not sure, but is he wearing the light blue suit with white shirt & red tie worn by convalescing wounded?

Known as "Hospital Blues"

Edited March 10, 2007 by leigh kitchen

[Tony]

Not sure, but is he wearing the light blue suit with white shirt & red tie worn by convalescing wounded?

Leigh,

Wasn't it you who had a length or two of cloth wounded stripes?

Tony

[leigh kitchen]

Yes, I will dig out a couple of variations on the brass wound stripes as weel.

Here are 3 x gold braid stripes on dark blue, so presumably worn on Blues by army & RM, & by police, ARP & similar organistions.

These 3 have been trimmed & worn as a patch of 3 stripes.

[leigh kitchen]

The 23 x gold braid stripes on RAF backing are either uncut or belonged to the unluckiest man in the RAF.

[leigh kitchen]

I have about half a dozen metal wound stripes - here are, from left to right, a No. 2, a No. 4 & an un-numbered one - this looks like it's gilded - perhaps a private purchase one?

[leigh kitchen]

& the reverses - the No. 2 & No. 4 have "PROV Pat" included on the backing plate, I reckon that the No. 2's backing plate ws originally shaped like the other 2, but bits have broken off over time.

The actual No. 4 wound stripe has raised lettering on the back, including "....PROV PAT 7342-17 No....

The No. 4 & the inmarked stripes are solid, not hollow backed - I don't know about the No. 2 as I don't want to start prising it off its backing plate.

[Michael Johnson]

Yes, Canada has reinstitituted the Wound Stripe. Here are the Regs.

http://www.dnd.ca/hr/instructions/engraph/..._admhrmil_e.asp

[Tony]

Here's a No. 4 plate flanked by a couple of No. 2 plates.

I wonder if there was a No.3

[leigh kitchen]

Ah right, I thought that would be the configuration before the end bits were briken off - probably happens when the stripe's tabs are forced back for removal from clothing & the abcking plate.

[Minas Henrik]

Wery intersting indeed. I have nerver heard of this strips befor. But im happy to learn some new things all the time.

[Laurence Strong]

With a number of Canadian soldiers wounded recently in Afghanistan, very few people - inside or outside the CF - knew about wound stripes, a dress distinction with almost a century of convoluted tradition reintroduced to the CF a dozen years ago.

The Canadian Forces reintroducted the symbol for uniformed wear in the mid-nineties, doing away with the red stripe as irrelevant: "A wound is a wound, and active service can be indicated in other ways if necessary."

Here are the criteria for eligibility:

A wound stripe recognizes injury directly attributable to hostile action received in honourable circumstances in an operational area, and requiring medical treatment beyond local first aid. Individuals who are injured in accidents in a special duty area or while employed on domestic provision of service operations or training exercises do not qualify for a wound stripe. Wound stripes are not issued posthumously.

There are some fairly quirky aspects to our symbol:

It's not an award or a decoration, it's a dress distinction: "Wound stripe wear is not compulsory. These are a dress distinction, not marks of service or qualification. For personal reasons, individuals may prefer not to display symbols of physical injury."

It's authorized by the casualty's Unit Commanding Officer. The CO will present the stripe in private or in public according to the wishes of the recipient. The wounded service member also gets a certificate, a note in his or her personnel file, and a message to his or her career manager at NDHQ.

It can be worn on civilian clothing - like a suit jacket: "Personnel, who by reason of their service have become entitled to wear a wound stripe, may, at their own option, continue to wear them on civilian clothes after cessation of military service."

Solely mental injuries such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are eligible: "Operational stress injuries may qualify for a wound stripe if treatment of not less than one week in hospital (or equivalent) is the direct result of a traumatic incident caused by hostile forces in a combat zone." As noted here, I don't know that many PTSD casualties would want to wear an advertisement for their condition, but they're clearly entitled to it.

The actual stripes come in strips of five and are "cut as needed." Five seems a little excessive to me. Historically, CF policy has been that three non-trivial wounds got you sent home from the theatre of operations (not always followed, apparently). And even if the expectation is that you'll have to put them on many different uniforms, how many DEU's does one soldier have?

Wounds and/or injuries that are self-inflicted do not qualify for the wound stripe.

More info here:

http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/instructions/en..._admhrmil_e.asp

[Minas Henrik]

Intersting to know that they are still use. Thanks for the info Mr Strong.

[leigh kitchen]

Interestimng that PTSD qualifies.

When the British wound stripe was bought in during WWI "shell shock" & gassing were'nt sufficient to earn it - given the attitudes of the time then I can perhaos understand why shell shock did'nt qualify, but I don't understand why suffering gas burns etc did'nt qualify.

[leigh kitchen]

I just had a look at Medal News, May 2005 - I must've not bothered to read it properly when I first bought it - it has an article by Don McLean -

"As the memories fade..."

This is about a booklet entitled "Soldiers' & Sailors' Rights", published 1917 & whch has a section:

Wound Badge: In July 1916, the authorties approved of the wearing of badges for officers and men who have been wounded since August 4, 1914. The badges are strips of gold Russian braid, two inches in length, sewn perpendicular near the bottom of the left sleeve of the jacket and each strip will mark each occasion on which an officer or man has been wounded . These badges can be obtained from the Army Ordnance Department.

Badges for Wounded Naval Men: The much appreciated decision of the Army Council to award gold stripes to wounded soldiers naturally called for similar recognition of the services in the Navy. The Admiralty lost no time in responding to the wish of the Navy, Dr Macnamara announcing in parliament on July 17, 1916, that it was proposed to issue distinctive badges for invalided and wounded naval men.

[Tony]

I'm not too sure how much of this set up is original as the backing plate appears to be quite thin. The actual stripes are 100% though.

Still, it's a nice twice wounded set.

Tony