War Diaries Talk

useless

  • erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be by erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be

    Rather blunt declaration: "1 man rendered useless through shock"

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    It is, isn't it?

    I saw something similar recently in a machine gun brigade diary, where the author said that several men had been sent back to base as being useless as machine gunners.

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    The author of one of the diaries I tagged quite a while ago, stated the new draft he inspected looked an unfit lot - did not seem fit enough to carry a spade never mind dig.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I've come across similar comments. I can understand in a way - in the situation they're in, there probably wasn't much room for softness. If somebody wasn't pulling their weight or couldn't be relied on, they would have wanted them off the unit's strength asap. Especially in units like the artillery, where men need to carry out relatively complex tasks in order for the batteries to be effective.

    Posted

  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    Official language was generally blunter then. There are descriptions in the infirmities column of censuses that are quite shocking today (eg "idiot from birth" for someone who may well have had Downs' Syndrome is one I've seen).

    Posted