War Diaries Talk

Should we tag stuff that's crossed out?

  • tvc15 by tvc15

    Some information is crossed out in the diary but still readable. Should we tag it?

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    No. It was presumably crossed out for a good reason and we don't know if it's correct or not.

    Posted

  • angiehart by angiehart

    I'm currently tagging a casualty list of those reported as missing during March 1918. Several people have had their names crossed out as the author must have gone back and altered the record when they were, thankfully, found to be alive and well. Do I still tag them as missing as they obviously were when the diary page was originally written?

    The link to the page is: http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/subjects/AWD000245b

    Thanks

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    In this particular case there is a note next to each one saying what had actually happened to them, so I would tag the name but give the new reason not the old one.

    Posted

  • angiehart by angiehart

    Thanks Heather. This is the fifth page of casualties - all of them from the last week of March 1918, and I always find it quite emotional tagging this sort of page when you think of the sheer numbers and the fact that each one was a real person with friends and family.

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Indeed. My Great Uncle was killed in March 1918. One of the missing (KRRC). The worst thing for his widow (who I remember quite well when she was an old lady) was not knowing what had happened to him. At least the ones who are crossed out on your list seem to have mostly turned up alive.

    Interesting to see so many names like that in a war diary so late on in the war though.

    Posted

  • wildcatjenny by wildcatjenny moderator

    Yes anglehart and HeatherC

    I find it heart breaking too. But, at the same time.... this is exactly what I came to OWD to do. I want to record the name of every single one of the men who served so that their families can find them.

    Posted

  • fisfiris by fisfiris

    Spring of '18 was terrible when the Germans first broke through; I recently had several long casualty lists from that period - tiring to tag but so essential to the job. I see in 'Recent' that someone seems to be much quicker than me in 'Finishing' these 'Nominal Rolls'

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    I really do hope no-one is skipping over lists of names as I think these are some of the most important pages to tag from the Project's point of view. I do recall feeling a little fed up when the diary of 1 Glos listed every single officer in the battalion three times in two months, but then I came across the casualty list which listed two names of ORs on the war memorial I am involved in researching. Makes you realise why it IS worthwhile as that may be the only mention of those men anywhere in the diary.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Absolutely - it's the names which really make all the other data we're collecting worthwhile. Of course it's interesting to look at the broader picture in terms of unit movements and activities, but the names are what makes it real. Thanks to everybody tagging those lists!

    Posted