First Field Dressing

First field dressings are a type of bandage issued by military personnel and kept on their person. They are meant for immediate use as a result of commonly received injuries during combat such as bullet wounds.

The words ‘Somme 1916’ are written in hand on the package of this WWI first field dressing, attributed to 23/1445 Lieutenant Neil McKinnon. It may have been used when he was wounded in the left leg and buttock on 20th September 1916 during the Somme offensive.

Lieutenant McKinnon served as a Rifleman with the 2nd Reinforcements to 1st Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, E Company. He was wounded once again in June 1917 to the left hip and abdomen and discharged on the 22nd November 1917, no longer physically fit for service due to wounds received while in action.