The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Stretcher bearers of the 6th Australian Infantry Brigade bringing in an injured soldier. This was at a time when the German forces still held the hill and the soldier on the right is holding up the Red Cross flag to minimise the risk of being fired on. While the Germans frequently used the Red Cross flag when collecting wounded, it was rather unusual for our bearers to use it as German snipers generally disregarded it. Note also the use of four stretcher bearers. Earlier in the campaign two stretcher bearers only were allowed for each stretcher and they used to wear slings round their necks to take some of the weight. In the last stages of the war the 'carries' were usually longer and consequently four men were allowed to carry each stretcher.
Australian stretcher bearers coming in under a white flag, passing the old cemetery of Pozieres, having come from the line near Mouquet Farm. At this point Tramway Trench crossed Brind's Cut. The whit
A Red Cross flag flutters beside a captured German Dressing Station near Proyart, when it was being used by the 58th Australian Battalion. The soldiers on the right are unidentified.
Near Wau, New Guinea. c.1943-03. Indigenous (native) New Guinea stretcher bearers (popularly known as fuzzy wuzzy angels) carry a wounded soldier from 2/7th Infantry Battalion, on a stretcher down a m
Four stretcher bearers are practising the application of the Thomas splint (used for severe leg injuries). It's application is the most frequently used life saving measure available to stretcher beare
Studio portrait of 1318 Private (Pte) Errol Sydney (Sidney) Watkins of Waverley (left) and a soldier identified only as Les. Enlisting in the AIF in February 1915, Pte Watkins was an original member o
Papua-New Guinea, c. 1943. Native stretcher-bearers (often called fuzzy wuzzy angels) carry a wounded soldier on a stretcher down a muddy jungle track, as they evacuate him from the front. An Australi
