War Diaries Talk

Casualties

  • panjandrum by panjandrum

    I find casualties reported day by day, and casualty reports at the end of the month.
    I assume the end-of-month casualty reports reflect the total casualties for the month.
    So if I tag the daily reports AND the monthly summary reports as 'Casualties', I'm double-counting. But I can't ignore either of them.
    Does this matter?
    And if it does, what should I do instead?

    Posted

  • panjandrum by panjandrum

    I have just finished a diary page for 31 December 1914.
    On this page are casualty totals for December and total casualties so far (no doubt since the beginning of hostilities.
    As a result, casualties are triple-counted if I use the casualties tag:

    • first on the day they occurred
    • second in the total for the month
    • third in the total so far.
      Risk of confusion.

    Posted

  • lukesmith by lukesmith moderator in response to panjandrum's comment.

    Hmm. Very good question. I'm seeking a resolution. In the meantime, please report the day-by-day casualties only.

    Posted

  • charcinders by charcinders

    Another source of error if you are using the data to calculate unit attrition is that there is no "returned from hospital" tag for other ranks. A man who spends a day in hospital is recorded as a casualty (sick) but is not recorded coming back.

    Similarly, there's no "joined" tag for ORs.

    Posted

  • makfai by makfai

    Should we tag a casualty entry which records nil casualties?

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator in response to makfai's comment.

    No I don't think so. I can't really see the point of doing so.

    Posted

  • UnknownShadow by UnknownShadow

    I always tagged them, because I 've read it in this thread.

    Posted

  • makfai by makfai

    I agree with tagging all the Cas reports. They are informative.

    Posted

  • poppynine by poppynine

    I have not been tagging NIL casualties, only because the comment from Luke Smith, as above, said day by day casualties only. In that context, he was talking casualty numbers, which I had thought was the idea of casualty tagging, for numbers & type. Until Luke or another TNA/IWM member of staff comes back with a ruling, I expect we will just have to use our own judgement.

    Posted

  • makfai by makfai

    I am working on the basis of better to tag than not. That way they can aways ignore it if they want 😃

    Posted

  • Lazer111 by Lazer111

    I've tagged NIL casualties, when it has been recorded, when there has been a attack and or push forward, as it shows how successful it has been.

    Posted

  • Poodle by Poodle

    If there is a monthly list, with day by day casualty statistics, which were not mentioned in the month's diary pages, should it not be tagged as a diary page? If the appendix is tagged as a report, which is suggested in the Field Guide, then the figures are lost. I was surprised that as late as 1917, the officer writing the daily diary did not think to put casualties in it, but a soccer tournament was recorded.

    Also how to tag casualties when numbers aren't given eg a few wounded

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Like you I'm amazed that casualty figures would not be mentioned in the daily text. Usually we say no to tagging an appendix as a diary page and the Field Guide does specifically mention casualty lists under the "reports" description, but I imagine this was because we assumed casualties WOULD be mentioned in the text. Not sure what to suggest here but I would not blame you for making this as a diary page so the casualties get recorded if you are SURE they were not mentioned anywhere else.

    Posted