THE WOUND STRIPE

We have recently acquired a brass Wound Stripe sleeve badge, issued to British troops who were wounded in action and whose names appeared in the official Casualty List.

The wound stripe was suggested by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who had seen French ‘poliu’ (informal term for French infantryman during the First World War, literally translates as ‘the hairy one’) wearing them on their tunics. Field Marshall Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, DSO, Chief of the Imperial General Staff supported the idea and with the approval of King George V was first authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916, which in turn was followed by an Army Council Instruction No.1637 of 22nd August ‘…it is notified for information, that the term ‘wounded’ refers only to those officers and soldiers whose names have appeared, or may hereafter appear, in the Casualty Lists as ‘wounded’. The braid will be supplied to officers and soldiers under regimental arrangements, and Commanding Officers will ensure that it is not worn by those who are not entitled to it. Sufficient for two jackets will be supplied to each man.”

The Official wound stripes were issued from 14th August and those wounded since 4th August 1914 were also entitled to them under the same criteria. As originally issued the wound stripe was made from Russian braid but as this proved to get easily dirty and dull a number of commercial companies made and produced them, such as the one we have acquired which was from Lambourne’s of Birmingham, which could be removed from the tunic to be polished as required. A cloth version was also produced. The stripe was to be worn just above the cuff on the left sleeve of a man’s tunic being placed so that any long service stripes or trade insignia could be placed above it.

A soldier who was unlucky enough to be wounded multiple times was entitled to wear a maximum of three wound stripes, and in awarding them ‘to those officers and soldiers whose names have appeared or may hereafter appear in casualty lists rendered by the Adjutant General’s office at a base overseas, or by the G.O.C. any force engaged in active operations. Reports in hospital lists are not to be regarded as authoritative for this purpose.’ (Army Council Instruction No. 2075 of 3rd November 1916.)

The casualty lists were originally published by the War Office and printed in national newspapers; it was then up to the editors and staff of regional or local newspapers, such as the Goole Times to read and extract from them the names of men who were likely to fall within the readership of their publications. In the early summer of 1917 with increasing paper shortages and mounting concerns from the public as to the frequency and numbers of men being reported as ‘Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner of War’ –sometimes being given as ‘presumed’, led to the Government taking control of the publication of the Official List, under His Majesty’s Stationary Office, being printed by Hayman, Christy, & Lilly, Ltd., London; the first issue being published on 7th August 1917, and the last on 4th March 1919. These Weekly Lists were themselves made up of six ‘Daily Lists’  with each list being separated into a number of ‘Parts’. For officers, only their surname, rank, initial(s) and unit title were given; for the ‘other ranks’ – under the headings above, name, number, initial(s), place of residence or next-of-kin were given. The Lists for the army and Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force were separate to those of the Royal Navy, though they shared the same publication process. A significant number of Goole men were named within the official Casualty Lists throughout the years of the War – at the time of writing this article, over 300 such entries dating from 7th August 1917 have so far been found.

 

Extract from Casualty List No.87 published 3rd September 1918. National Library of Scotland; Shelfmark GWB.30.

One Goole man who was so named was Leonard Bertram Coolledge, No.205604 Private Hampshire Regiment. His name was printed in List No.87; Part VII published on 3rd September 1918. Owing to the loss of Leonard’s service record there is no detail as to the date or nature of the wound suffered, or to which battalion he was assigned to at that time. An inclusion within the List would be approximately six weeks after the event occurred and to a large degree the man’s family would already be aware of the fact prior to the publication, regardless as to the reason why he was named – this news may have come directly from the War Office, the man himself, a comrade in the same unit or a commanding officer of his platoon or company.

A ‘Briggs, Boothferry Road’ studio photograph showing Private Leonard Bertram Coolledge with his father John, with the wound stripe being worn as directed. Courtesy of Josephine Cooper.