War Diaries Talk

Is "Routine" the same as "All Quiet"?

  • floodmouse by floodmouse

    Hi, I'm a new user. Is it correct to tag the diary entry "Routine" as "All Quiet"? Thank you.

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  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Interesting question and of course it's open to interpretation depending on the routine! I assume Units wrote this to indicate that they were simply going about their normal every day tasks and nothing much was happening.

    The Field Guide defines "All quiet" as follows - "Units had to be on the lookout for enemy attacks all the time. If nothing was happening they would record that the situation was quiet."

    I can't see any other way you can tag "routine" so yes in this case I see no reason why you can't tag it like that. Of course if the Unit was in one or other line of trenches you could also tag "in the line", "In support" or "in reserve" but I think this isn't the case with this unit as it looks like they are in billets behind the trenches?

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  • angiehart by angiehart

    I've come across a few pages that say "All quiet except for a few shells in the evening" - so I have tagged these as both "all quiet" and "under fire"!

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  • bootnecksbs by bootnecksbs

    Hi @angiehart

    In my humble opinion the only problem with marking it as "Under Fire" is that shelling could/can be heard for miles around so although the comment is made "All quiet except for a few shells in the evening" it doesn't necessarily mean actual unit was/is under attack.

    The diaries that I have com across so far have made the distinction between hearing shells and being under attack and/or being hit.

    Regards, Max

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  • angiehart by angiehart

    Thanks Max,

    Sorry I should have said - it was shells in the trenches where they were. You're right I don't tag it as 'under fire' when its just general shelling in the area.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Just goes to show what a relative term 'all quiet' is when you're in a war zone, doesn't it!?

    This definitely sounds like a good approach to me, i.e. only tagging as under fire when the diary's clear that the shells are landing on that particular unit's position.

    Posted