Many large houses and hotels were used as Convalescent Hospitals. Those being treated wore a blue uniform with a red tie, known as Hospital Blues, once a solider was deemed fit enough to leave convalescence, he would return to one of the Command Depots for the rehabilitative training after which they would be allocated to a battalion, frequently a different battalion or regiment to that in which he had previously served, as his place would have been taken by another man to maintain numbers. Those who did not recover suffiently to returnn to active service were issued with a Silver War Badge, SWB, to wear on their lapel, this signified that they had completed their war service. The badges were individually numbered and numbers are recorded the the medal cards of those who received them. Silver War Badges were also issued to soliders who had completed the length of service they had signed up for, mainly regular soldiers who had served before the war and whose period of service expired before the end of the conflict. A Silver War Badge. One possitive outcome of the horrific injuries suffered, was the advance in medical science. Inovative and often desperate solutions which would not have been considered in peace time were undertaken, those which showed promise were developed further.