War Diaries Talk

November-December 1916 Diary Pages Missing

  • Curt_Carpenter by Curt_Carpenter

    After faithfully tagging the Royal Scots Greys diaries dya-by-day from August, 1914 to October, 1916 -- I suddenly find myself presented with diary pages for January, 1917. I would like to follow the unit during the battle of the Somme -- but either these diary pages are missing, or have already been tagged. Is there any way for me to access the missing two months? I would like to follow the unit for the entire course of the war, rather than just piecemeal.

    Thanks and regards,
    Curt Carpenter

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    There was some discussion before on the frustration this causes and a proposal for "ownership" of a diary during tagging, which was answered by one of the Admins and I'm afraid it's not possible the way things are structured. That thread is here http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD0000008/discussions/DWD0000605

    The only way to see the whole digitised diary is to pay to download it at The National Archives website. There's a search box on this page http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/

    Posted

  • Curt_Carpenter by Curt_Carpenter

    Thank you for the reply. It's helpful to know that I'm not the only one that mourns the loss of continuity.

    I've been thinking about trying to up my game and do some side research on a given unit (like the Greys) before trying to tag its diary pages -- especially where people's names are concerned (can be very hard to read, depending on the diarist's hand). But without some certainty of continuity, this doesn't seem worthwhile since there's no assurance that I will be able to tag more than a few pages for that unit.

    In any event, I am pleased to be able to participate in this effort, thank the archives for the opportunity, and will continue the work under the existing protocol.

    Posted