Sometimes it could take several hours for a wounded man to be moved back to the medical staff at the casualty clearing stations.

Clearing stations were the first point of entry for the wounded from the front.

Burrell’s friend Alf succumbed to his wounds and died. Burrell had a wooden cross made up for him, painted white with his name on it.

Burrell was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field on that day (20 September 1917). He annotated the page in his diary with the letters M.M.

Stretcher-bearers were the first to get to the wounded and carry them to treatment at the casualty clearing stations close to the front lines. It was heavy, exhausting work with long, dangerous journeys to and from the front lines and no man’s land on foot, carrying the wounded through mud and gunfire.