in the line, in support, in reserve
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It happens often that the different Coy's of a battalion have a different "job". What I mean is that one Coy is in the line, another is in support and another one is in reserve. Do I tag all those three separately or do I only tag "in the line"?
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ral104
moderator, scientist
In this case, I would tag the most 'forward' of these, so 'in the line'. It was common for different companies of a battalion to occupy different areas of the front line trenches, but not all diaries record it in as much detail. Although it would be nice to tag each activity separately, I think this will cause analysis problems later on. 'In the line' is fine in this case, because elements of the battalion are doing exactly that, while the rest are essentially supporting that unit activity.
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cyngast
moderator
Somewhere early on in my experience here, someone said that the "In support" and "In reserve" tags were for when the entire unit is in one of those back areas, such as when it is noted in a diary that the unit is in Brigade Reserve. So it seems that there are actually two meanings for these three positions. There's the larger sense where the entire unit is In the line, In support, or In reserve, and then there's a more local situation where the unit is In the line, meaning the forward area, but that within that area there are trenches designated as the front line, the support line, and the reserve line. Is this correct?
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ral104
moderator, scientist
Absolutely 😃
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cyngast
moderator
I've wondered about these separate areas in relation to Professor Grayson's work. It's fairly obvious when a unit is in the line, but often when they are relieved the diary just says they "marched back to billets" or "proceeded to such-and-such camp" without any mention of whether they are now in support or reserve. I don't like to guess, so I don't tag these locations as either unless it's clearly stated.
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ral104
moderator, scientist
Yes, I wouldn't tag either of them as anything other than unit movement and accommodation. Generally, they will have moved back behind the lines in those case, instead of going into support or reserve trenches.
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Stork
I've been wondering about this lately, and have been tagging all 3 separately- in the line, support + reserve. Also, sometimes an entry says 'in the trenches' or 'in front sector,' and I've been tagging those as 'in the line.'
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ral104
moderator, scientist
That's the right approach, @Stork. Although, if a battalion has elements in the front line and other elements in support (or reserve) I would also just tag it as 'in the line'.
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