War Diaries Talk

Uncertain names

  • calvados by calvados

    I think I'm getting the hang of this now, but how do we tag a name when its indistinct? Some examples might be Harper or Harker, Reid or Reed or Read, Gray or Grey? Do we use a ? or another character to indicate a letter we can't read?

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  • angiehart by angiehart

    I just take my best guess at the name. As there are 4 or 5 other people tagging the same page, they take the majority option - moderators correct me if I'm wrong.

    I also keep a list of the names, so if I come across it again I can look and see what I put last time, or if it is clearer, I change it on my list so I know for next time - I know it's not everyone's "cup of tea" but I find people's names fascinating - especially if I have an interest in a particular regiment.

    What do other people do?

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  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Your way sounds great @angiehart I certainly find that keeping a list of the officers in particular, means I can remember the Adjutant's name five pages on when his signature has degenerated into a scrawl!

    @calvados give it your best guess. I don't think it's really worth putting a ? and as Angie says, at least 4 others will be tagging that page and we hopefully come out with the best consensus we're going to be able to achieve. You can of course always put any particularly difficult ones on here to see what others think.

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  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Since I started these diaries, I also kept a list of Officers and others mentioned (in case the writing of those named were faint in following pages). This gave me an idea of who was Commanding also who was the adjutant, who sometimes signed orders, mainly but not always - The named people often change to someone else. I can follow the people named throughout the diaries, the sad part of this is when they are killed or wounded. If the names are too illegible to read, I know one of the others tagging the page may come up the correct name. (For the same reason), I also jot down place names, It becomes clear how Regiments each traverse the same places over the Western Front, which of course they had to do when at war, then I think, I'm going with them through this area again. Certain Books about WW1 also give in their indexes at the back, names of Commanders, Generals, Officers and other peoples names and list places where the actions took place.

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  • calvados by calvados

    Thanks for this advice. I have started to keep a list pf names and find it useful to circle place names on a map.

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