It must be remembered that in actions of a severe nature, such as great advances, the first object of the advancing troops is to obtain their objective and to hold it. Therefore care of the wounded may not be possible till the action is over. But during these hours the wounded are by no means without attention. It is here that the battalion stretcher bearers do their finest and most self-sacrificing work. They go over the top with the fighting troops, and as the men are hit it is their duty to give them first aid, while the fight still goes on, with machine-gun bullets whistling by their ears and shells bursting all about them. Their duty it is, and nobly they perform it, to dress the wounded, stop bleeding if possible, and temporarily set fractures. Then they place the wounded men in the most protected side of a shellhole, or in any other sheltered spot, and pass on to the next needy one, after placing any bit of available rag on a stick or old bayonet to attract the attention of the field clearing parties who come over that area. In the meantime the wounded who can walk--walking cases--make their way to the point at which the M.O. is caring for the injured. After getting the required attention, they walk on back to the A.D.S. of the field ambulance. At the first lull in the fighting it is the duty of the medical officer to see to the clearing of the field of those wounded who cannot walk. Any men going to the rear for supplies, and any German prisoners, are commandeered by the M.O. as stretcher parties. In big actions his own trained stretcher bearers are employed only as dressers. In the battle of Vimy Ridge which began at 5:30 a.m., it was twelve hours later ere all the wounded on our front were evacuated to the field ambulances. That was quick work when one considers that some battalions, including my own, had 35 per cent. of their men hit. One hundred German prisoners were sent up under escort to act as stretcher bearers, and gradually the field was cleared. The only difference between the handling of the wounded during actions and during stationary warfare is the fact that in the former more unavoidable congestion takes place, though this is prevented as far as possible in the forward areas by rushing the cases to the rear or to England. In big actions, where many wounded are expected, this is always done.