Wound patch on uniform. Patch for a severe wound, red army

PATCHES FOR WOUNDS

The badge for the wounds of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR was introduced on July 14, 1942. Decree No. GOKO-2039 of July 14, 1942 established the use of a distinctive wound badge for the Red Army from the day the Patriotic War began. For the illegal wearing of a badge of injury - the perpetrators are prosecuted. The right to wear a distinctive sign of the number of wounds was given to all Red Army servicemen who were wounded in battles with the enemy, or wounded by the enemy in the performance of their duties. For any simultaneous wound, servicemen had the right to wear one patch - a distinctive sign for a wound, depending on the nature of the wounds. By type of injury are divided into light and severe. The category of “light wounds” includes soft tissue injuries without damage to internal organs, bones, joints, nerve trunks and large blood vessels, as well as burns of the 1st and 2nd degree. The category of "severe injuries" includes injuries with damage to bones, joints, internal organs, large nerve trunks and large blood vessels, as well as burns and frostbite of the III and IV degrees. The fact of each injury was certified by a “certificate of injury” issued by military medical institutions and an extract from the order for the unit (institution).

For persons in command, marks on the right to wear award marks of injury were entered in section 3 "Awards and special rights assigned to the owner of the certificate." The identity of the persons of the commanding staff of the Red Army was certified by the signature of the commander of the unit (institution) and the seal of the unit (institution). For privates, marks on the right to wear award marks of injury were entered in section III “Participation in campaigns, awards and distinctions”, the Red Army book, by the company commander, according to orders for the unit. When transferred to another unit, information about the service was signed by the chief of staff of the unit with a seal attached.

Description of patches

The badge is a rectangular patch 43 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, made of dark red silk lace (for a light wound) or golden (for a severe wound). The patch for wounds was sewn on a fabric basis, in the color of the uniform. It was located on the right side of the tunic (tunic) at the level of the middle button, and in the presence of a pocket - above the right chest pocket. Projects of the award for the wounds of the artist A.B. Bug.

Worn on all forms of clothing on the right side of the chest 8-10 mm above the orders and medals, and in the absence of the latter - in their place. In the navy, the sign of wounds was established by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR No. 179 dated July 18, 1942. The difference was in the method of wearing, namely: the sign was worn on the right sleeve of the upper items of naval uniform at a distance of 10 cm from the shoulder seam to the bottom strip. On working and inventory overalls, the sign of the number of wounds was not supposed to be worn. On the general army uniform, the patch for wounds should be worn, as established for the Red Army. The stripes had to be sewn from the bottom up in the order of the wounds, while in the army the stripes were located from the bottom to the top in the order of the severity of the wound (below - for light wounds, above them - for severe ones).

Source: WWII awards medalww.ru

The decision to place patches over the right breast pocket of a tunic or tunic is quite understandable: in the rear army units, rank insignia were still worn above the cuffs, and all awards and insignia were worn on the left until June 1943, so the right location of the patches for the wound visually "balanced" the uniform .

In connection with the "movement" of a number of orders and signs on the right side of the chest, the stripes for the wound were given a place 8-10 mm higher than the awards, i.e. more honorable than for orders.

Undoubtedly, when developing the design of the stripes, the system of distinctions for wounds introduced in the Russian Imperial Army in December 1916 was analyzed and rethought. Having retained the principle of using fabric stripes and their differentiation by color, the Soviet command abandoned the distinction by ranks (ranks) awarded in benefit of color determination of the severity of wounds. The size was also changed in similar proportions: the length from 1.5 inches (66-67 mm) was reduced to 43 mm (practically - 1 inch), the width from 1/5 inch (9 mm) was also reduced by one and a half times - to 5- 6 mm. It can be assumed that in difficult military conditions, the use of a cheap soutache cord or braid (the production of which was mastered by industry) as a mass insignia looked preferable to the establishment of a fundamentally new metal badge.

The photo chronicle of the war years and the surviving uniforms indicate that many servicemen could wear 4-7 stripes for a wound.

Despite the fact that the size of the stripes was determined at 43x5-6 mm, often instead of a soutache cord or braid of a regulated width. ordinary sergeant galloons 9-11 mm wide were worn. The senior and senior command and command staff had stripes embroidered with satin stitch or gimp.Even before the end of the war, unregulated purple or black stripes began to appear among military personnel - there was an opinion that concussions could be designated this way. In isolated cases, other "author's additions" were also observed.At the same time, another trend was observed: soldiers who were injured did not always wear patches. In some cases, this could be due to the personal aesthetic tastes of a soldier or officer, sometimes due to the lack of braid.

According to official estimates, in the period from June 22, 1941 to September 3, 1945, 14,685,593 cases of injuries, contusions, burns and frostbite were recorded among army and navy personnel. At the same time, 10,530,750 people returned to service. (71.7%), 3,050,733 people were dismissed with an exception from the military register or sent on leave due to injury. (20.8%), 1.104.110 people died. (7.5%). As of October 1, 1945, more than a million military personnel who had several combat wounds and about one and a half million military personnel who received one wound were taken into account in the Soviet Army from among those remaining in the ranks. In the post-war years in the Soviet Union, it was allowed to wear a patch for wounds on everyday and field uniforms, but such an opportunity was not provided for the dress uniform. Contrary to orders, military personnel sometimes wore signs of the number of wounds on their full dress uniforms. In the 50s, an attempt was made to transform galloon signs into a classic award. Well-known Soviet artist, author of many post-war awards Zhuk A.B. developed many design sketches, where alternating golden and red stripes were taken as a design element of the block to which the medallion was attached. The reasons why the award was never released remain unknown.

Signs of the number of wounds were worn quite massively by the participants in the Victory Parade - soldiers, sergeants, officers and even some generals of the ground forces.At the same time, the photo and newsreel known to the author does not illustrate examples of wearing signs of the number of wounds by participants in the Victory Parade - military personnel of the Air Force, NKVD troops and military sailors (neither breastplate nor sleeve. Naturally, the Soviet signs of the number of wounds were not worn by the participants in the Victory Parade - foreign soldiers and officers.

Scheme of wearing patches

On July 14, 1942, at a meeting of the State Defense Committee, the issue of the differences between servicemen wounded on the fronts of the Patriotic War was raised, and Resolution No. GOKO-2039 was adopted on this occasion. According to indirect data, this was initiated by the head of the Main Military Sanitary Directorate of the Red Army, Korvrach E.I. Smirnov.

It is interesting to note that this document had a historical precedent in the old Russian army, when by order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander No. 1815 of December 31, 1916, for the wound stripe, located half an inch above the left cuff. For officers, it was silver or gold, according to the galloon of the epaulette, for the lower ranks - red braid. In general, it should be noted that since the winter of 1941-1942, when the front was relatively stabilized, I.V. Stalin, for every proposal coming from any authority, began to demand a historical background on how it was before.

The GKO decree approved the "Regulations on the distinctive signs of the wounded soldiers of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War." They were of two types: for a light wound and for a severe one, which was determined by the "Certificate of Wound". The right to wear signs was noted in the Red Army books or identity cards and service records of command personnel. This decree was announced by the order of the NCO of the USSR No. 213 of July 14, 1942 and the order of the People's Commissariat of the Navy of the USSR No. 179 of July 18, 1942.

However, it was urgently necessary to clarify the concept of "light" and "severe" wounds, to introduce a single "certificate of injury", and also to determine who and when could issue it. All this was carried out in the order of the main military sanitary department of the Red Army No. 263a dated July 23, 1942, where a list of injuries was given that should be attributed to one or another category of injuries, the form "Information about the wound" was given and it was determined that it could be issued only by those medical institutions where the final outcome of the damage was determined.

These signs were worn on the right side of the chest at the level of the middle button of the front bar, at a distance of 7-8 cm from it, and if there was a pocket, above it. They were located one above the other at a distance of 3-4 mm from each other. At the same time, for a severe wound, it is higher than for a light one. Later, the wearing of these signs was allowed only on everyday and field clothes, and with the introduction on July 26, 1969 by order of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. 191 of new Rules for wearing military uniforms, they are worn with all forms of clothing on the right side of the chest 8-10 mm above orders or , in their absence, in their place.

In the Navy, the rules for wearing these signs were somewhat different. On May 5, 1943, the USSR Navy NK approved the description of the insignia of the personnel of the Navy, where, unlike the general army rules, they were worn on the right sleeve at a distance of 10 cm from the shoulder seam to the bottom strip. They were sewn from bottom to top in order of injury. These rules existed until the merger of the military ministries in 1953 and the introduction by order of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. 105 of June 30, 1955 of the uniform Rules for wearing military clothing by marshals, generals, admirals and officers of the SA and the Navy, as well as the order of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. 120 dated August 4, 1956 on the introduction of uniform rules for wearing military clothing by sergeants, foremen, soldiers, sailors, cadets and pupils of the SA and Navy.

Description of "Sign of injury"

A horizontally elongated rectangle of silk galloon: with a light wound - dark red, with a severe one - golden. It was fastened on a rectangular piece of fabric, similar in color to the fabric of the uniform, as wide as a badge, and 3-4 mm high above and below it in the form sewn onto clothes. The size of one sign is 6X43 mm.

Distinctive award badge (badge and not only) of the military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces (Russian Army and Navy, Armed Forces of the USSR (USSR Armed Forces)) who were injured on the fronts of the First World War, the Great Patriotic War and during the hostilities of the post-war period.

The badge was a rectangular stripe 43 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, made of dark red silk lace (for a slight wound) or golden (yellow) (for a severe wound).

The right to wear a badge of injury was given to servicemen of the USSR Armed Forces who were wounded in battle or in the line of duty from the enemy.

The number of stripes indicated the number of injuries and their degree, there were two: light and severe injuries.

Minor injuries included:

soft tissue injuries without damage to internal organs, bones, joints, nerve trunks and large blood vessels;

burns of the 1st and 2nd degree.

Serious injuries included:

injuries with damage to bones, joints, internal organs, large nerve trunks and large blood vessels;

burns and frostbite III and IV degree.

The fact of treatment of each wound (burns and frostbite) of a serviceman was certified by a certificate of injury issued by the military medical commission, a military medical institution, and an extract from the order of a military medical institution (military unit).

For persons of the commanding staff of the Red Army, marks on the right to wear award marks of injury were entered in section 3 "Awards and special rights assigned to the owner of the certificate" of the identity card of persons of the commanding staff of the Red Army, certified by the signature of the commander of the unit (institution) and the seal of the unit (institution).

For privates (Red Army, Red Navy) of the Red Army and Navy of the USSR Armed Forces, marks on the right to wear award marks of injury were entered in section III "Participation in campaigns, awards and distinctions" of the Red Army book by the company commander, according to orders in part; when transferred to another unit, information about the service was signed by the unit's chief of staff with a seal attached.

The signs were sewn on the right side of the tunic (tunic) at the level of the middle button, and if there was a pocket, above the right chest pocket. After the war, it was worn on all forms of clothing on the right side of the chest 8-10 mm higher than orders and medals, and in the absence of the latter, in their place.

In the Navy (RKKF) it was determined that the badge is a rectangle of uniform-colored fabric, on which horizontal strips of silk braid 5 mm wide and 43 mm long are sewn. Each wound is indicated by sewn on a rectangle:

with a severe wound - a strip of golden color;

with a slight wound - a strip of dark red color.

In this case, the length of the rectangle corresponds to the length of the strips, and its width depends on the number of the latter. The gaps (distances) between the stripes are 3 mm, the strips themselves are sewn from the bottom up in the order of wounds, but the Badge is worn on the right sleeve of the upper items of naval uniform at a distance of 10 cm from the shoulder seam to the bottom strip, and the strips are located across the sleeve. On items of working and inventory special clothing issued for short-term use, the sign of the number of injuries is not worn.

Attention: materials are obtained from open sources and published for informational purposes. In the event of an unconscious copyright infringement, the information will be removed upon request from the authors or publishers.

The decision to establish insignia for the wounded in the USSR, taken at the height of the war - in the summer of 1942, seems to be quite reasonable. The need to visually highlight the fighters and commanders who shed blood on the battlefield became obvious.

The memoirs of Major General David Ortenberg (during the war years, the editor-in-chief of Krasnaya Zvezda) contain a description of a rather characteristic episode:

“... Changes have taken place in the 5th Army, where I often looked during the days of the Moscow battle. Instead of L. A. Govorov, who was appointed commander of the Leningrad Front, I. I. Fedyuninsky, our good friend, comrade from Khalkhin Gol, became commander of the army. I directed my steps there, capturing the photojournalist V. Temin.

….

There, in the clearing, I told Temin to take pictures of the wounded for the newspaper. Victor immediately launched a stormy activity, began to loudly order, gather people, "shuffle" them. He constantly clicked his "watering can", filmed the fighters in different poses and angles, alone and in groups. After returning to Moscow, Temin brought me a freshly printed, still wet photograph. It depicted close-up figures of ten fighters standing in one line.

Why only ten? Where are the rest? I asked.

Temin explained that he took pictures of all the wounded, but they were special people, and showed me the caption under the photo: “Western Front. Guardsmen, wounded twice and thrice in battle, returned to their regiment. From left to right: Guards military assistant L. Semchuk - wounded in two battles; Guard Sergeant V. Chechin - wounded in three battles; Guard Senior Sergeant A. Ivanov - wounded in three battles; Guards Red Army soldier I. Tselishchev - wounded in five battles ... "

Our readers, and above all the wounded themselves, took this picture as a kind of reward. By the way, on the second day, General A.V. Khrulev called me and said that this photo was noticed at Headquarters. Obviously, the insignia of the wounded will be established. Indeed, a month and a half later, a GKO resolution was adopted on the decals on the number of wounds.

« NOT FOR PRINT

State Defense Committee
Decree No. GOKO-2039 of July 14, 1942
Moscow Kremlin.

On the introduction of distinctive signs for the wounded soldiers of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War

2. Approve the "Regulations on the distinctive signs for the wounded soldiers of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War" and the samples of signs attached to it.

3. Distinctive sign of the wound to wear on the right side of the chest.

4. The right to wear a distinctive sign of a wound to a military man to note:
- for the Red Army and junior commanding staff - in the Red Army book;
- for middle and senior command and political staff - in the identity card and service record.

5. For the illegal wearing of a badge of injury - the perpetrators shall be held criminally liable.

6. The distinctive sign of injury established by the Regulations for the servicemen of the Red Army shall be applied from the day of the beginning of the Patriotic War.

CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE

I. STALIN

Statements sent: t.t. Khrulev, Vasilevsky"

* * *

POSITION

On the decals for the wounded soldiers of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War.

Basic provisions:

1. For the Red Army soldiers, command and political personnel of the Red Army, wounded in the battles for our Soviet Motherland against the German invaders, a distinctive sign of injury is established.

The right to wear the distinctive badge of wounds

2. All servicemen of the Red Army who were wounded in battles with the enemy, or wounded by the enemy in the performance of their duties, enjoy the right to wear a distinctive sign of wounds.

3. For each simultaneous wound, servicemen enjoy the right to wear one patch - a distinctive sign, depending on the nature of the wounds.

4. By their nature, injuries are divided into light and severe.

The category of “light injuries” includes soft tissue injuries without damage to internal organs, bones, joints, nerve trunks and large blood vessels, as well as burns of the 1st and 2nd degree.

The category of "severe injuries" includes injuries with damage to bones, joints, internal organs, large nerve trunks and large blood vessels, as well as burns and frostbite of the III and IV degrees.

5. The fact of each injury is certified by a “certificate of injury” issued by military medical institutions and an extract from the order for the unit (institution).

Description and method of wearing the distinctive sign of wounds

6. A distinctive sign of wounds is a rectangular patch 43 mm long, 5-6 mm wide.

The patch is made of silk galloon - in case of a light wound it is dark red, in case of a severe wound it is golden.

7. The patch of the distinguishing sign of wounds is located on the fabric, in the color of the uniform, rectangular shield on the right side of the chest, according to the approved description.

That's right: Khryapkina "

* * *

34. Newspaper publication with the layout of wound patches (1942).

DESCRIPTION OF THE SIGN FOR THE NUMBER OF WOUNDS

Each wound is indicated by a galloon sewn on the shield: with a light wound - dark red, with a severe one - golden.

The distance between the sewn strips is 3-4 mm.

The length of the shield corresponds to the length of the sewn-on colored galloon, and its width depends on the number of stripes sewn on.

The sign of the wound is sewn on the right side of the chest at the level of the middle button of the strap, at a distance of 7-8 cm from it; and if there is a pocket, above the right chest pocket, towards its inner edge.

(RGASPI, f. 644, op. 1, d.43, ll.179-182)

Undoubtedly, when developing the design of the stripes, the system of distinctions for wounds introduced in the Russian Imperial Army in December 1916 was analyzed and rethought. Having retained the principle of using fabric stripes and their differentiation by color, the Soviet command abandoned the distinction by ranks (ranks) awarded in benefit of color determination of the severity of wounds. In similar proportions, the size was also changed: the length from 1.5 inches (66-67 mm) was reduced to 43 mm (practically - 1 inch), the width from 1/5 inch (9 mm) was also reduced by one and a half times - to 5- 6 mm. It can be assumed that in difficult military conditions, the use of a cheap soutache cord or braid (the production of which was mastered by industry) as a mass insignia looked preferable to the establishment of a fundamentally new metal badge.


35. An example of wearing seven stripes for a wound (1944-1945).	36. Guards Lieutenant Colonel with four stripes for a wound (after 1945).	37. Major General of the Guards with stripes for the wound, made in the technique of satin stitch embroidery.	38. Guard Colonel unregulated stripes for wounds
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The photo chronicle of the war years and the surviving items of uniforms indicate that many servicemen could wear 4-7 stripes for a wound (ill. 35,).

Despite the fact that the size of the stripes was determined at 43x5-6 mm, often instead of a soutache cord or braid of a regulated width (ill.). ordinary sergeant galloons 9-11 mm wide were worn. The senior and senior command and command staff had stripes embroidered with satin stitch or gimp (ill.,).

Even before the end of the war, unregulated purple or black stripes began to appear among the military - there was an opinion that concussions could be designated this way. In isolated cases, other "author's additions" were also observed (ill.).

At the same time, another trend was observed: soldiers who were injured did not always wear patches. In some cases, this could be due to the personal aesthetic tastes of a soldier or officer, sometimes due to the lack of braid.

In the navy, the sign for the number of wounds was established by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR No. 179 dated July 18, 1942. The difference was in the method of wearing, namely: the sign was worn on the right sleeve of the upper items of naval uniform at a distance of 10 cm from the shoulder seam to the bottom strip, and stripes were located across the sleeve. On items of work and inventory overalls issued for short-term use, it was not supposed to wear a sign of the number of wounds. On the general army uniform, the sign of the number of wounds should have been worn, as established for the Red Army.

In the "Illustrated description of the insignia of the personnel of the Navy of the USSR", approved by the Order of the People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR Admiral N.G. Kuznetsov on May 5, 1943 and published in 1944, it was specified that "...The stripes are sewn from bottom to top in order of injury.Thus, when placing the sleeve insignia of the number of wounds in the fleet, not a typological, but a chronological principle was applied.

However, the "naval" version of the wound patch is extremely rare in the photo chronicle of the war years (ill.,),. It seems that the order in which the galloon stripes were placed was determined not by the priority of golden stripes over dark red ones, but by the chronology of injuries - even among officers (ill. 41). Sailors sometimes wore signs of the number of wounds on their chests - even on naval clothes (ill. 44).

Be that as it may, the special naval style of wearing signs of the number of wounds was reflected in the feature film "Ivan Nikulin - Russian Sailor", released in 1944. The heroes of this film demonstrate the wearing of red sleeve patches.

The story about the Soviet signs of the number of wounds would be incomplete without mentioning the number of servicemen who could be awarded this distinction. According to official estimates, in the period from June 22, 1941 to September 3, 1945, 14,685,593 cases of injuries, contusions, burns and frostbite were recorded among army and navy personnel. At the same time, 10,530,750 people returned to service. (71.7%), 3,050,733 people were dismissed with an exception from the military register or sent on leave due to injury. (20.8%) and 1,104,110 people died. (7.5%).

Even after the end of the war (as of October 1, 1945) in the Soviet Army, more than a million servicemen who had several combat wounds were counted among those remaining in the ranks alone. In addition, on the same day, there were about one and a half million servicemen in the Soviet Army who received one wound (see table).

One of the official studies indicates that the sanitary losses of the personnel of the operating fleets and individual flotillas for the period from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945 (excluding the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla) amounted to 84873 people. It should be remembered that this number includes both sick people and people who died during the period of treatment in hospitals.

However, in the same publication, detailed information was given on sanitary losses by fleets and flotillas, which made it possible to subtract sick people from the total number of sanitary losses of the fleet (apparently, they did not receive the right to wear the sign of the number of wounds) and determine the number of wounded, frostbite and burns, who had the right wearing the named distinction. The result of the generalization of these data by the author of the article can be presented in the form of a table.

Based on this, on the basis of proportional (i.e., purely theoretical, not confirmed by archival data) calculations, it can be concluded that the cases of wearing signs of the number of wounds in the fleet could be approximately 190 times less than in the army. Of course, the calculation method does not fully characterize the rarity of the practice of wearing signs of the number of wounds on the sleeve of naval uniforms. Repeated wounds, the death of those who returned to duty after being cured, the refusal to wear signs of the number of wounds cannot be counted. An objective confirmation of the rarity of wearing this distinction in the Navy is a photo chronicle - photographs of sailors with sleeve insignia of the number of wounds can be considered unique.

For a while, galloon stripes were considered quite sufficient insignia for the wounded. However, at the final stage of the war in the army, they began to consider it abnormal that the wounded, especially those repeatedly wounded, did not have government awards (at that time, orders and medals were called not state, but government awards). The facts of the presence in the military unit of military personnel who were injured and did not have awards began to be considered as serious omissions in the work of the command and political agencies. In one of the popular science publications, a political report was quoted from the head of the political department of the 69th Army to the head of the political department of the 1st Belorussian Front about some of the results and shortcomings of the first day of the battle on the Oder bridgehead:

« №0471

…

5. Rewarding the wounded.

A survey of the wounded revealed many fighters, sergeants and officers with several wounds, who have not yet been awarded or have been awarded such government awards that do not correspond to their exploits.

Platoon commander 1 sb 39 cn 4 sd lieutenant Grundovsky N.V. until April 16 he was wounded five times. On April 16, he was wounded for the sixth time - severely (blind shrapnel wound to the chest). He was awarded only the medal "For Courage" in October 1942 and after that he was no longer awarded.

…

Soldiers and officers were identified with two and three wounds and still not awarded (312 rifle division, 247 rifle division, etc.) "

Signs of the number of wounds were worn quite massively by the participants in the Victory Parade - soldiers, sergeants, officers and even some generals of the ground forces. At the same time, the photo and newsreel known to the author does not illustrate examples of wearing signs of the number of wounds by participants in the Victory Parade - military personnel of the Air Force, NKVD troops and sailors (neither breastplate nor sleeve) ( Note. Ed .: This fact does not indicate the low popularity of these signs, but rather a large proportion of irretrievable losses in these types of armed forces) . Naturally, the Soviet signs of the number of wounds were not worn by the participants in the Victory Parade - foreign soldiers and officers.

Badges for a severe wound, Red Army. Original.

RESOLUTION OF THE STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE GOKO-2039
July 14, 1942 Moscow, Kremlin.
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF DIFFERENTIAL SIGNS FOR WOUNDED RED ARMY SERVICEMEN ON THE FRONTS OF THE PATRIOTIC WAR

1. To introduce for the Red Army soldiers, command and political staff of the Red Army, who were wounded in the battles for our Soviet Motherland against the German invaders, a distinctive sign on the number of wounds for constant wear on uniforms.
2. Approve the Regulations on the distinctive signs for the wounded soldiers of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War and the samples of signs attached to it.
3. Distinctive sign of the wound to wear on the right side of the chest.
4. The right to wear a distinctive sign of a wound to a military man to note:
for the Red Army and junior commanding staff in the Red Army book;
for middle, senior and senior command and political staff in the identity card and service record.
5. For the illegal wearing of a badge of wounding, the perpetrators shall be held criminally liable.
6. The distinctive sign of injury established by the Regulations for the servicemen of the Red Army shall be applied from the day the Patriotic War began.
Chairman of the State Defense Committee I. STALIN

“Approved by Resolution GOKO 2039 of July 14, 1942.
REGULATIONS on the decals for the wounded soldiers of the Red Army on the fronts of the Patriotic War.

Basic provisions:
1. For the Red Army soldiers, command and political personnel of the Red Army, wounded in the battles for our Soviet Motherland against the German invaders, a distinctive sign of injury is established.
The right to wear the distinctive badge of wounds
2. All servicemen of the Red Army who were wounded in battles with the enemy, or wounded by the enemy in the performance of their duties, enjoy the right to wear a distinctive sign of wounds.
3. For each simultaneous wound, servicemen enjoy the right to wear one patch of a distinctive badge, depending on the nature of the wounds.
4. By their nature, injuries are divided into light and severe.
The category of "light injuries" includes soft tissue injuries without damage to internal organs, bones, joints, nerve trunks and large blood vessels, as well as burns of the 1st and 2nd degree.
The category of "severe injuries" includes injuries with damage to bones, joints, internal organs, large nerve trunks and large blood vessels, as well as burns and frostbite of the III and IV degrees.
5. The fact of each injury is certified by a “certificate of injury” issued by military medical institutions and an extract from the order for the unit (institution).
Description and method of wearing the distinctive sign of wounds
6. A distinctive sign of wounds is a rectangular patch 43 mm long, 5-6 mm wide.
The patch is made of silk galloon with a light wound of a dark red color, with a heavy wound of a golden color.
7. The patch of the distinguishing sign of wounds is located on the fabric, in the color of the uniform, rectangular shield on the right side of the chest, according to the approved description.
That's right: Khryapkina "

The distinctive sign of the number of wounds is a rectangular shield made of fabric in the color of the uniform with parallel beveled sides, on which horizontal strips of silk galloon 5-6 mm wide and 43 mm long are sewn.
Each wound is indicated by a galloon sewn on the shield: with a light wound - dark red, with a severe one - golden.
The distance between the sewn strips is 3-4 mm.
The length of the shield corresponds to the length of the sewn-on colored galloon, and its width depends on the number of stripes sewn on.
The sign of the wound is sewn on the right side of the chest at the level of the middle button of the strap, at a distance of 7-8 cm from it; and if there is a pocket, above the right chest pocket, towards its inner edge.

In connection with the "movement" of a number of orders and signs to the right side of the chest, the stripes for the wound were given a place 8-10 mm higher than the awards, that is, more honorable than for orders.
Undoubtedly, when developing the design of the stripes, the system of distinctions for wounds introduced in the Russian Imperial Army in December 1916 was analyzed and rethought. Having retained the principle of using fabric stripes and their differentiation by color, the Soviet command abandoned the distinction by ranks (ranks) awarded in benefit of color determination of the severity of wounds. The size was also changed in similar proportions: the length from 1.5 inches (66-67 mm) was reduced to 43 mm (almost 1 inches), the width from 1/5 inches (9 mm) was also reduced by one and a half times to 5-6 mm . It can be assumed that in difficult military conditions, the use of a cheap soutache cord or braid (the production of which was mastered by industry) as a mass insignia looked preferable to the establishment of a fundamentally new metal badge.
The photo chronicle of the war years and the surviving uniforms indicate that many servicemen could wear 4-7 stripes for a wound.

Even before the end of the war, unregulated purple or black stripes began to appear among the military, there was an opinion that concussions could be designated this way. In isolated cases, other "author's additions" were also observed.
At the same time, another trend was observed: soldiers who were injured did not always wear patches. In some cases, this could be due to the personal aesthetic tastes of a soldier or officer, sometimes due to the lack of braid.

In the navy, the sign for the number of wounds was established by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR 179 of July 18, 1942. The difference was in the method of wearing, namely: the sign was worn on the right sleeve of the upper items of naval uniform at a distance of 10 cm from the shoulder seam to the bottom strip, and the strips placed across the sleeve. On items of work and inventory overalls issued for short-term use, it was not supposed to wear a sign of the number of wounds. On the general army uniform, the sign of the number of wounds should have been worn, as established for the Red Army.

In the "Illustrated description of the insignia of the personnel of the Navy of the USSR", approved by the Order of the People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR, Admiral N.G. Kuznetsov on May 5, 1943 and published in 1944, it was specified that "The strips are sewn from the bottom up in the order of injury." Thus, when placing the sleeve insignia of the number of wounds in the fleet, not a typological, but a chronological principle was applied.

However, the “naval” version of the wound patch is extremely rare in the photo chronicle of the war years. It seems that the order in which the galloon stripes were placed was determined not by the priority of golden stripes over dark red ones, but by the chronology of injuries, even among officers. Sailors sometimes wore signs of the number of wounds and even on naval clothes on their chests.

Signs of the number of wounds were worn quite massively by the participants in the Victory Parade by soldiers, sergeants, officers and even some generals of the ground forces.

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Description of "Sign of injury"

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