THE STRETCHER BEARER BEAR

Private Clarence Thomas represents the incredible courage and selflessness of the men who served as stretcher-bearers with the infantry battalions of the A.I.F.. These brave men often risked life and limb traversing enemy fire. Their brave deeds are immortalised in the stories of Gallipoli and John Simpson Kirkpatrick – the Man with the Donkey, an Australian Army Medical Corps bearer. Yet for the most these amazing men remain unsung heroes of the Great War.

Pte. Thomas was released in the Gallipoli Centenary. At Gallipoli stretcher bearers evacuated and treated almost 18,000 wounded between 25 April 1915 and 20 December 1915. Each infantry battalion was authorised 16 stretcher bearers who were under the command of the unit’s doctor, the Regimental Medical Officer. Hundreds of men served as unit stretcher-bearers with the A.I.F.’s battalions at Gallipoli.

Pte. Thomas’ uniform differs from the standard dismounted troops’ uniform in that it does not include the standard webbing. Instead he wears the basic A.I.F. uniform as designed in 1912 and the distinctive Australian Commonwealth Military Forces slouch hat proudly worn by the Australian Army since 1903, but the webbing is replaced by a leather belt and a field dressing haversack. Although permitted by international convention to be armed for the protection of the wounded, stretcher bearers did not normally carry a rifle.

The story of the stretcher bearer takes on even greater importance as we move into the centenary of Australia’s entry onto the Western Front in 1916. In single battles, over just days, Australia suffered casualties comparable to the entire Gallipoli campaign. Countless lives were saved by the unsung heroes of war.