Bearer Company

Bearer Company, an organisation for removing wounded soldiers from the field of battle to the dressing station or temporary hospital which is part of the equipment of the Bearer Company, and where first aid can be given to them. The Bearer Company, first introduced into the British army in 1873, comprises the medical and other officers for discipline and supply duties, over 30 non-commissioned officers and men, trained as sick-bearers of the Medical Staff Corps, about 100 attendant untrained bearers from the Militia Reserve (q.v.), 6 Bâtmen (q.v.), and drivers of the Army Service Corps. Tents for the personnel and for the dressing stations are carried, and a Bearer Company also has ambulances, surgery wagons, equipment, supply, and water carts, requiring over 100 horses. A modified organisation for mountain warfare comprises muleteers, mules, and a special kind of cacolets or litters. Half a Bearer Company is attached to each Army Corps (q.v.) on active service, forming the link between the battalion stretcher-bearers and the field-hospitals.