World War I: Regimental aid post

This photograph shows a regimental aid post somewhere on the Western Front during World War I. The scene is one of apparent confusion with stretchers, men and equipment strewn over a field a short distance behind the lines. Each battalion in the British army had a medical officer and a team of twelve stretcher-bearers trained in first aid.

The photograph seems to have been taken shortly after an evacuation of wounded from the field: a group of bearers in the foreground slump exhausted on the ground, and one is apparently a casualty himself. Others inspect their charges. One stretcher in the middle holds a body covered in a sheet, presumably dead.

The next stage for the casualties would be to an Advanced Dressing Station, and then on by ambulance to a Casualty Clearing Station and Hospital for the worst cases.