This is a picture of casualty arriving at a dressing station
Battle of the Somme, Sept 1916. Horse ambulance picking up wounded at advanced Dressing Station, close up behind front during the great battle. |
Background information
1 Describe key features. One key feature of the dressing station was its location. For example, it was between a ¼ of a mile and a mile away from the front line. This meant that it was less likely to be attacked or for opposition to invade their base than an RAP might be. A second key feature of the dressing station was the care it would provide. As it was usually in a tent or dugout it would not have had permanent specialist buildings such as operating theatres, but it did have trained ‘Field Ambulance’ unit of medical officers and nurses, who used a system of triage to prioritise the treatment of those in the most need. |
2a Utility
This source is partly useful for the enquiry into the role of a dressing station. It is useful as it shows us that some people would have to be transported to the dressing station by horse-drawn ambulances, which was very common early on in the war before there were motor ambulances, or in deep mud, which the horses could get through more easily than cars. As this photo was taken during the Battle of the Somme, which was a particularly muddy battlefield, it is accurate that horse-drawn ambulances would have been used. Furthermore, the source is a photograph, which means that we can see accurately what the scene might have looked like at a dressing station.
However, in some ways it has limitations. For example, as it is a photograph, we can only see one part of one dressing station at one moment in time. Given that this particular photograph was taken during the Battle of the Somme, which was one of the biggest battles with over 50,000 casualties on the first day; this means that there will be needing more staff and soldiers injured on that day or particular time period. Therefore, this particular scene might not have been typical throughout the war.
Furthermore, the source does not show us a lot of detail about what kind of staffing, care and facilities were available at the dressing station. The Field Ambulance consisted of medical officers and nursing staff, neither of whom can be clearly seen. Similarly, the dressing stations were typically in either dug-outs or tents, and the care was based on a triage system of prioritisation, none of which is shown in the source.
This source is partly useful for the enquiry into the role of a dressing station. It is useful as it shows us that some people would have to be transported to the dressing station by horse-drawn ambulances, which was very common early on in the war before there were motor ambulances, or in deep mud, which the horses could get through more easily than cars. As this photo was taken during the Battle of the Somme, which was a particularly muddy battlefield, it is accurate that horse-drawn ambulances would have been used. Furthermore, the source is a photograph, which means that we can see accurately what the scene might have looked like at a dressing station.
However, in some ways it has limitations. For example, as it is a photograph, we can only see one part of one dressing station at one moment in time. Given that this particular photograph was taken during the Battle of the Somme, which was one of the biggest battles with over 50,000 casualties on the first day; this means that there will be needing more staff and soldiers injured on that day or particular time period. Therefore, this particular scene might not have been typical throughout the war.
Furthermore, the source does not show us a lot of detail about what kind of staffing, care and facilities were available at the dressing station. The Field Ambulance consisted of medical officers and nursing staff, neither of whom can be clearly seen. Similarly, the dressing stations were typically in either dug-outs or tents, and the care was based on a triage system of prioritisation, none of which is shown in the source.