Wound stripes, and NCOs
Soldiers who were wounded were permitted (from 1916) to wear a metal strip on the left forearm of their uniform, which helped to distinguish them from the raw recruit! Photographs sometimes show a soldier with more than one stripe - probably worn with pride. Both these soldiers were wounded during the Battle of the Somme, and both are sergeants, one of the highest rank of non-commissioned officer (NCO) a soldier could aspire to. They each wear three stripes to denote their superiority.
