Stretcher-bearers carrying an injured man on a stretcher down a twisting trench in Salonika. Imperial War Museum copyright image Q31794. Note also the walking wounded following them. These men have clearly already received some rudimentary medical assistance in the trenches
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1 Describe two main features of stretcher bearers:
One main feature of the stretcher bearers is that there was a shortage of them during the First World War. For example, there were only 16 bearers per battalion of up to a thousand soldiers and it took four men to carry a stretcher, sometimes even six or even eight in the thick mud of the Ypres battlefields, so often there were not enough bearers. Another key feature of the stretcher bearers was that they had to work under pressured settings. For example, they had to recover the dead and wounded, sometimes during a break in fighting, often under fire. Stretcher bearers had to deal with mud, shell-craters and crowded, twisting trenches, which made their jobs mentally and physically exhausting, as well as very dangerous. |
2a How useful is the photograph as evidence of the problem of transportation of the injured.
The source is partially useful for an enquiry into the problems of transportation of the injured by stretcher bearers. For example it shows how stretcher bearers had to go through tight spaces to get people to the other stages of the evacuation route. It also shows an accurate amount for how many people would carry the stretcher which was usually four men per soldier, but increased to up to eight in bad conditions which are clearly apparent in the picture. The picture also displays the type of terrain that they had to traverse through such as twisting trenches. The source also accurately displays that men who were able to walk had to make their own way back to the Regimental Aid Post, but might receive some basic medical help such as bandaging, which can be seen, and pain relief. As the source is a photograph, we can easily picture the scene of what the men went through.
However, its utility is somewhat limited because it only shows the top of the injured soldier which means that we cannot really tell how bad they were actually injured, and therefore we can’t be sure exactly what medical help the stretcher bearers have already given to the soldier. We also have no information about the exact location of the image which makes us unaware of the distance of the journey. The source is a photograph, which, whilst it might seem accurate, could have been staged – this seems particularly likely in this image as the photographer is standing above the trench, which would have been extremely dangerous. Furthermore, even an un-staged photograph is somewhat limited as it shows one moment in time, in one location, and is therefore atypical. It does not, for example, show the thick muddy terrain of the Somme, but a drier terrain like Arras. The source does not, therefore, give an accurate display of the role of the stretcher bearers throughout the whole of the Western Front.
The source is partially useful for an enquiry into the problems of transportation of the injured by stretcher bearers. For example it shows how stretcher bearers had to go through tight spaces to get people to the other stages of the evacuation route. It also shows an accurate amount for how many people would carry the stretcher which was usually four men per soldier, but increased to up to eight in bad conditions which are clearly apparent in the picture. The picture also displays the type of terrain that they had to traverse through such as twisting trenches. The source also accurately displays that men who were able to walk had to make their own way back to the Regimental Aid Post, but might receive some basic medical help such as bandaging, which can be seen, and pain relief. As the source is a photograph, we can easily picture the scene of what the men went through.
However, its utility is somewhat limited because it only shows the top of the injured soldier which means that we cannot really tell how bad they were actually injured, and therefore we can’t be sure exactly what medical help the stretcher bearers have already given to the soldier. We also have no information about the exact location of the image which makes us unaware of the distance of the journey. The source is a photograph, which, whilst it might seem accurate, could have been staged – this seems particularly likely in this image as the photographer is standing above the trench, which would have been extremely dangerous. Furthermore, even an un-staged photograph is somewhat limited as it shows one moment in time, in one location, and is therefore atypical. It does not, for example, show the thick muddy terrain of the Somme, but a drier terrain like Arras. The source does not, therefore, give an accurate display of the role of the stretcher bearers throughout the whole of the Western Front.