War Diaries Talk

Strange symbols

  • Stork by Stork

    In the 9th day, what are the strange symbols between TLT and ART? And what are the things placed inside the German front line?

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I'm rather stumped myself by your questions, Stork. For the first one, the symbols look like they are part of the captain's name, maybe abbreviations.

    For the second one, it looks like German hens. Maybe some kind of a bomb or trap that would go off when unsuspecting Germans touched or moved it?

    Can anyone else help here?

    Posted

  • Stork by Stork

    I just realized that the last word of the entry which I thought was 'line' is actually 'wire,' if that helps any.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Thanks for clarifying that, Stork.

    I can't find anything about the "German hens" online. I'll keep looking when I have a moment or two.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    'German hens' sounds very intriguing, but I have no idea what they are! I think Cynthia's probably right that it was some sort of booby trap placed to disrupt wiring parties, but I've never heard the term before now.

    As for the mysterious letters, I did wonder whether they were for Acting Captain, but I'm not certain. I think it's either a Captain and an Acting Captain, or one Captain with a really long name which has been abbreviated. It's a bit odd, because the other officers are named normally.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    All I've been able to find today is a reference to a 'Grey Hen', which is slang for a rum jar. I'm wondering now whether German hens were the german style of rum jar, designed somehow to give an unpleasant surprise to whoever picked them up. Or perhaps more likely they were just explosive charges in a container which resembled a rum jar.

    Posted

  • LinsladeLad by LinsladeLad in response to ral104's comment.

    I think that the "TLT" is an abbreviation for the officer's name - as you suggest, perhaps his name is long and the abbreviation may be commonly used among the unit officers.

    I'd like to propose that "ART" is actually "ADJ", for Adjutant. The R could well be a D, and the T could well be a J - see the initial of Lieut Craig following.

    The bit in between looks like it could be A Co - perhaps an abbreviation for " A Company Commanding Officer"?

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to LinsladeLad's comment.

    Well spotted! Now the Adj. part is clear, I think you're also right about the A Co part, but I think it might mean Acting CO of the battalion.

    Great bit of deciphering there - thanks!

    Posted