WW1 8: certificate of wounds

This is a Certificate of Wounds and Hurts for Folkestone-born Able Seaman Leonard Drew. He was injured in action on 8 September 1917 by the explosion of a mine while serving on the destroyer HMS Sharpshooter.

He sustained a flesh wound 5 inches long, on his thigh.

He was brought back to HMS Dido, a larger depot ship at Harwich, for treatment and assessment.

A Certificate of Wounds and Hurts was an official Royal Navy document. It confirmed how and when someone had been injured, and the type and seriousness of the wound.

If a seaman had to be discharged from the Royal Navy as a result of an injury, this was a key document that could help him get his pension.

Fascinating fact
In June 1917 HMS Sharpshooter helped destroy 2 German destroyers near Ostend.

Sharpshooter had three 4 inch guns, was armed with torpedoes and had a top speed of 36 knots.