Wound stripe

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

Apparently created in WWI, soldiers "injured through hostile action in the First World War were permitted to wear a brass metal stripe, mounted vertically, on the left forearm of their uniform jacket."

WWII saw some controversy in their wear:

First World War veterans serving in the Active Army were prevented from wearing their 1914-1918 wound stipes, with the exception of members of the Veterans Guard, in 1941. Orders in 1942, as well as the War Dress Regulations in 1943, abolished the wearing of wound stripes by members of the Veterans Guard also.

Special recognition for injured soldiers in World War Two was not implemented until 1944, when orders advised that "His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve the institution of Wound Stripes," The stripes were not to be considered a reward, and posthumous issues would not be made. Each occasion in which a soldier was wounded or injured, subject to certain conditions, entitled the soldier to a gold stripe of russia braid 1-1/2 inches long. Personnel wounded in prevrious Wars, regardless of how many times, were entitled to wear a single red rayon stripe.

What ridiculous bureaucratic waffling on an issue of simple recognition for soldiers. It seems this is not a new affliction, and that the chances of correcting it are historically slim.

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?

In light of the work that needs to be done educating the Canadian public about the roles and risks inherent to an Armed Forces, I hope that those CF members entitled to wound stripes actually wear them.