37 replies to this topic

[TonyR]

Hi all, someone just asked me why soldiers wore Wound Stripes on sleeve, she thought it was macabre.

I must admit I don't know unless it was mark of respect to service given.  However I bet someone (if not all) on here will know.  Just don't laugh if answer should be obvious to me

Regards, TonyR.

[KevinBattle]

Can't answer for sure, but a lot less macabre than the Heidelburg duelling scars!!
I suppose it was a mark that the man had been "In Action" against the enemy and tough enough to recover to get back into the fight...
It might also help an officer to pick out a seasoned man from all the rest when he needed someone who hopefully wouldn't panic in a hairy situation.
There's also the aspect that it marks him out from raw recruits and those who haven't faced the enemy.
A bit like Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson....

I'm sorry, I don't see it as "macabre", but then I don't see the fascination with marring yourself deliberately with tattooes, so it's just my view.
No doubt an erudite Pal will hove into view shortly....

[old owl]

I suppose that it would be looked upon as a mark of honour, something to be proud of, a little like wearing a medal ribbon for a gallantry award.  A symbol to signify that a soldier had been in the thick of it and had survived to fight another day, a sort of morale booster for the soldier involved.

Certainly not macabre, at least not in my eyes, but I could imagine that it could be construed in that way by some.

[Piorun]

TonyR, on 28 March 2011 - 08:42 PM, said:

Hi all, someone just asked me why soldiers wore Wound Stripes on sleeve, she thought it was macabre.

I must admit I don't know unless it was mark of respect to service given.  However I bet someone (if not all) on here will know.  Just don't laugh if answer should be obvious to me

Regards, TonyR.

They wore them because the Army issued them according to Regulations. The reasoning behind the issue is both respect for the soldier's service and the maintenance or establishment of good morale. If you and your comrades see that your pain and suffering are treated as being worthy of recognition, hopefully, you will feel and perform better. Wearing a wound stripe for being hurt in action is no more macabre than wearing a medal for hurting others in action. The Americans wore medals for both. It's all about bravery and morale under fire. Antony

[Siege Gunner]

I am reminded of a scene in the film 'The Magnificent Seven', where the villagers are selecting men to fight in their cause.  A man covered in scars presents himself and one villager says 'We should choose him', and another says 'No, we want the man who made him look like that'.

[Piorun]

[TonyR]

Thanks one & all for your replies.  Very interesting & informative, especially the bit about the Magnificent 7, I never knew that.

I will pass info on & try to persuade that it wasn't macabre at all.  Regards, TonyR.

[Leighc]

Essentially the same reason the US military issues the Purple Heart.

[mike n]

What was the severity of the wound to warrant getting the 'wound stripe' anyone

[Kate Wills]

Some wounds would not be apparent to the casual glance, so this was also a way of proving you had or were doing your bit.

[FROGSMILE]

Piorun, on 28 March 2011 - 09:39 PM, said:

They wore them because the Army issued them according to Regulations. The reasoning behind the issue is both respect for the soldier's service and the maintenance or establishment of good morale. If you and your comrades see that your pain and suffering are treated as being worthy of recognition, hopefully, you will feel and perform better. Wearing a wound stripe for being hurt in action is no more macabre than wearing a medal for hurting others in action. The Americans wore medals for both. It's all about bravery and morale under fire. Antony

Well said and spot on.

[edwin astill]

As someone with no knowledge on uniforms/badges the question I'd add is "When and why were they discontinued?"

Edwin

[FROGSMILE]

edwin astill, on 22 October 2011 - 08:04 PM, said:

As someone with no knowledge on uniforms/badges the question I'd add is "When and why were they discontinued?"

Edwin

That's an interesting question and it seems significant that in all the Army's years of existence wound stripes were only authorised during the two World Wars that entailed the collective endeavour (and mobilisation) of the entire Nation.

[david murdoch]

edwin astill, on 22 October 2011 - 08:04 PM, said:

As someone with no knowledge on uniforms/badges the question I'd add is "When and why were they discontinued?"

Edwin

I asked this question some time back and I never had specific answer. I have a photo of my grandfather in uniform in early/mid 1920's - he has his WW1 service ribbons, but not his wound stripes. I guess there must have been a specific date when the regulations changed and no more were issued, but did that also mean existing wound stripes were no longer to be worn?

[Lachlan]

FROGSMILE, on 22 October 2011 - 09:00 PM, said:

That's an interesting question and it seems significant that in all the Army's years of existence wound stripes were only authorised during the two World Wars that entailed the collective endeavour (and mobilisation) of the entire Nation.

I can only guess that whilst wound stripes were seen as a sign of bravery in action and a motivator to their peers etc during wartime and a national effort, during peacetime it might be off-putting for recruitment for a scaled-down regular army. Perhaps psychologically, men join up to see the world, escape the boredom of hum-drum jobs etc etc and the sight of men with wound stripes would remind them of the possibility of getting injured, maimed or killed, which was the downside of even peacetime soldiering.

Also, I imagine many of the men with wound stripes left the army after the war and those who remained would be phased out as time progressed.

[khaki]

Was the award of wound stripes 'scaled' similar to the German wound badge or did the wound stripes equal the number of individual wounds, eg., 10 wounds=10 stripes, and further if a soldier received multiple wounds at one time, did that effect the stripes award.?

thanks

khaki

[depaor01]

I bought a postwar tunic a few years ago and found this on the sleeve...  didn't know what it was at the time so just thought I'd post this for those who are in the same boat wondering what the heck a wound stripe is!

 ws2.JPG   35.76K   0 downloads

[8055Bell]

Running back to Kate's post, I always thought the wound stripes showed you had done your bit.  This was based on an assumption that men who were discharged before 1919 would still wear a stripe on their civvies to show they had done their duty and avoid unpleasant comments or white feathers.  My assumption about civvies may be wrong though...

Tim

[tootrock]

Surely the Silver War Badge was issued to protect those discharged early.

Martin

[WilliamRev]

I think that to men like my grandfather, who had seen 18 months on the Western Front and been wounded twice, before he joined a training unit back in Scotland in Autumn 1916 after recovering, wound stripes were very usefull. I can imagine that it was very important to them that people could see that they had seen proper action.

Later on, after he had been a company commander at 3rd Ypres (26th-28th Sept 1917), he was briefly a staff officer at the War Office in London, and again I think that his two wound stripes would have given him credibility, before he was able to get back to the front for the last months of the war (and be wounded a third time).

William

[James A Pratt III]

I have read an account by a WW I soldier who got called up and sent to the front in 1918. There were a number of men in his company who had 2, 3, or 4 wound stripes. it made him confident that he was with some men been around awhile and knew what to do ect.

[4thGordons]

Here's the most I have a photo of:  woundstripes.jpg   85.01K   5 downloads

[DavidB]

I look at this way - regulations - I mean, the army said you will wear uniform, you will wear your rank stripes, you will wear your medals and finally you will wear wound stripes whether

you like it or not or you are on a fizzer. Personally I think it was a great honour to show that you have been wounded in the service of the King, and whats more, lived to tell the tale.

[8055Bell]

4thGordons, on 06 April 2013 - 10:50 PM, said:

Here's the most I have a photo of: woundstripes.jpg

And still has a rueful smile!

[afightinglife]

In what situation were the wound stripes issued?

My great grandfather (avatar, AIF) had 3 visible in his wedding photo.  His service record states he was wounded twice: once on Gallipoli 1915 (severe, evac'd to England), and another severe one in France 1917, to England again.  I also have his medical records from when he returned to Australia and they state that he did have another instance where he was evacuated from Gallipoli in August 1915, but it was largely due to shellshock and he had 2 sprained ankles and a flesh wound.  Would that flesh wound have been the reason for the third stripe?
Cheers,S