Introductions

• by MatthewIWM moderator

  Welcome to Operation War Diary! I'll get the ball rolling here, I'm Matthew and I work for Imperial War Museums on Operation War Diary and also Lives of the First World War project (more information on that here - http://www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/). A lot of the data you'll be helping us to tag in the former is going to be feeding directly into the latter. Both really exciting projects that I'm lucky to be involved with, hopefully you'll enjoy exploring them both too.

  Posted January 13, 2014 6:00 PM

• by Caro

  Hi Matthew. Good luck with this project, from an Old Weather veteran.

  Posted January 14, 2014 9:34 AM

• by SomeKindHand

  Maybe its because my computer equipment is not cutting edge, but I seem to have a problem with the introductory walk through.
  The information box needs to be closed so that I can select "diary page". It does not reappear? I have XP with Google chrome.
  Any help?

  Steve

  Posted January 14, 2014 9:49 AM

• by MatthewIWM moderator in response to SomeKindHand's comment.

  Hi Steve, you can select "Diary Page" without closing the box at that stage of the tutorial, which then moves you on to the next step. Let me know if you're still having problems with that.

  (if you want to start the tutorial again close down the window with Operation War Diary, load up the page again and click "get started")

  Posted January 14, 2014 10:49 AM

• by Yasminduffin

  Matthew,

  Do you have a contact number that I can ring you on? I would love to have a chat with you about this - I'm writing an article on it for the paper.

  My e-mail address is: yasminduffin@leicestermercury.co.uk

  Posted January 14, 2014 12:15 PM

• by Col._Gibbon

  I've just seen a bit about this project on BBC News, and just had to drop by and sign up.

  I've been looking into my family history, but I've not had much luck finding much on my Grandfather who was in the 4th Bat Middlesex Regiment. All I know for sure is he was in one of the first deployed to France in August 1914, and faught at the first battle of Mons. Some time after that, but before Christmas 1914, he was captured. He may have been a nurse, because in his marriage to my Gran, he is listed as a Male Nurse in 1913. Some how, he was back in Blighty in 1917, so he must have been repatriated at some time.

  I've also discovered several other family members, who all have survived WWI Service, which is going against the odds for the time.

  I'd be really greatful if someone could point me to the documents you have on the Middlesex Regiment, so I can start searching.

  John Graham

  Posted January 14, 2014 2:20 PM

• by ftm42

  Amazing idea - I'm getting stuck in, to the detriment of hunting for a 'real' job!

  Hope it's OK to pass this on to our school as it could be useful homework / research or general interest for the pupils. Think they are all sufficiently IT-savvy these days to understand how it works but an eye-opener for them to see what went on daily, but without the gory bit for the younger / more sensitive pupils?!

  Posted January 14, 2014 2:47 PM

• by MatthewIWM moderator

  Hi John,

  Looking at the diary pages that have been uploaded so far it's looks like the Middlesex Regiment diaries haven't been uploaded yet. Keep checking back on the "diaries" page of the site, as new diaries are being uploaded on a daily basis.

  IWM's other First World War Centenary project - Lives of the First World - might be of interest too. When that launches in Spring you'll be able to hopefully further your research using that site, and also contribute what you know all ready to his life story in the site so that we can help to preserve that for future generations. There's more information on that here:

  http://www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/

  Posted January 14, 2014 3:23 PM

• by MatthewIWM moderator in response to Yasminduffin's comment.

  Hi Yasmin,

  That's brilliant news you're looking to write an article about this for the paper. The best starting point is to contact press@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk and they'll be able to advise you on a number to call.

  Let me know if you have any trouble getting in touch with them!

  Posted January 14, 2014 3:25 PM

• by Gordon_3D

  I am Gordon 3D and I am happy to help out 😄

  I opened my email to see the invite to get started from the Zooniverse Team, and at that exact moment it came on BBC News!

  It was good to see both the release of the information and the fact that school children are getting involved in schools - it will be a valuable and interesting history lesson for them.

  Posted January 14, 2014 6:32 PM

• by Col._Gibbon

  Hi Mathew.

  Thanks for the reply.

  This project is going to be great for just about everyone in the country.

  I just hope this remains free, and does not get grabbed by Ancestry.com, or one of the other pay sites. It does not sit right with me, when other make money based on our collective history.

  I wish the Red Cross would return all the records of POW's they have, and give them to a group like this. Then we would have the fullest archive of WWI that's possible, all in one place.

  I'm not able to go to the PRO to view papers, so having them here is the answer to my prayers!

  My next wishis that they unlock all the WWII records. I'm 58, and my dad died when I was 11, so I never knew what he did in WWII, other than he did serve.

  John

  Posted January 14, 2014 7:02 PM

• by marjorie_gehrhardt scientist

  Hi everyone, I'm Marjorie and I'm also happy to help out! It's great to see so many posts and interesting documents available here already 😃

  Posted January 14, 2014 8:47 PM

• by ChrisKemp scientist

  Hi everyone, I'm Chris. I'm very happy to help out (and to get the chance to help out!) here. The amount of work people have done so far and the number of interesting documents they've found has been brilliant.

  Posted January 14, 2014 9:48 PM

• by octavosaurus

  Hi everyone, I'm Jo! I'm enjoying helping out so far - and it's certainly good fun putting my archivist/library training to the test! Such a brilliant, brilliant project 😃

  Posted January 14, 2014 10:01 PM

• by wordtweaker

  Hello all. I'm honoured to be involved in this project, having lost two uncles in this conflict, and three more survivors. Just a question: how long does it normally take for a response? I have a page with no date and would really like to get going. Thanks for the opportunity to participate.

  Posted January 15, 2014 11:44 AM

• by debcam

  I'm Debbie with a huge interest in genealogy and the first world war so this is absolutely brilliant. i get to read fascinating war diaries and input into a really worthwhile project. i love it already!

  Posted January 15, 2014 11:51 AM

• by simonedi moderator

  it varies, dont worry if you dont have a date, just enter what you can. The organisers can look at dates from pages either side to fill in missing dates

  Posted January 15, 2014 9:26 PM

• by vikingwp

  Hello everyone! I'm Jill and I'm a great fan of history and historical preservation from the U.S. I've been looking for a meaningful volunteer effort to take on in my free time. So happy to have learned about this project and get involved! It's absolutely fascinating work (and a great way to while away my time on some cold, snowy days in Michigan!)

  Posted January 15, 2014 10:33 PM

• by Lest_We_Forget

  Hello to all!

  I too had a few problems with the introductory guide and am running Windows 7. The diary page didn't give individual names on the date given, but at least I learnt how to delete all of the individuals that I had nearly created! Will clear cookies etc when I close down and will try the tutorial again tomorrow.

  Posted January 15, 2014 11:35 PM

• by soccerguy

  Spent quite a while working through Field Ambulance war diaries a few years ago. My grandfather and two of his brothers were in RAMC and spent a few years in the FAs. Impressed with this project - it will have a lot of value. Became very impressed with what the RAMC accomplished in WW1. Probably one of the least described accomplishments of the century.

  Posted January 15, 2014 11:40 PM

• by welshsage

  Hi Everyone, I'm happy to be here and happy to help. Ex army NCO (Lance Corporal) so available for advice on terminology etc.

  I've always been fascinated by history as there is so much to learn about, much of which is still relevant today. It's just a shame that humanity never seems to learn lessons FROM history.

  Posted January 16, 2014 6:53 AM

• by delete_5986faa6

  Love the idea. It's a thrill to read first hand some of the impressions and actions of the soldiers that were at the front. It also gives a wonderful overview of the logistics and sheer scale of effort that was undertaken. It's also very humbling to see registry of deaths and casualties that occurred 100 years ago, knowing their efforts helped to make the world the place it is today. I certainly want it to be remembered and I feel great that in this small way we are helping to do just that for future generations.

  Posted January 16, 2014 9:34 AM

• by trevor999

  I just wanted to say I think this is great. I think it's important since most, if not all, of the veterans of the Great War have since passed away.

  My father-in-law is fascinated by WW1. I am going to try to press gang him into this as well.

  Thanks to everyone.

  Posted January 16, 2014 4:24 PM

• by mrsg123

  Much easier today, newbies should make sure they are logged in and go to Diary after the tutorial - easypeasy now !!

  Posted January 16, 2014 5:00 PM

• by simonedi moderator

  Better say hi now ive gained a moderator tag and will hopefully be about on here a lot over the course of the project!
  Im Simon, a relative youngster at 26 and from the edinburgh but im from down in england
  My interest probably comes from my grandfather who told me stories of what he saw and encountered as a Bren gun carrier driver for the coldstreams. Quite an amazing yet horrifying tour winding up with the libertion of bergen belsen so i guess that spiked my interest in wartime history. Additionaly i have other family members whos military service i have looked into including one of the dambusters, makes for some very fascinating reading.
  Though the great war is somewhat new territory for me, I remember covering it in high school and glancing on different aspects of it at various times since. This project was an ideal place for me to make a real dent in learning more about it.
  But i have to admit that its strange feeling to have read the numbers for how many died over the war, or in a given battle, seen the vast war cemeteries and walls of names but accounting for them one by one is such a strange feeling.

  Posted January 16, 2014 7:51 PM

• by simonedi moderator

  I beleive there are no longer any confirmed veterans left, i beleive Florence Green was the last veteran to pass away around a year ago. The last person to have seen the trenches as i understand was Harry Patch who died back in mid 2009, there might be others who remember it as children though.
  Press gang as many people as you can into it!

  Posted January 16, 2014 8:00 PM

• by arthur390

  I also got an email invitation about this project, and it looks very interesting.

  Is there a glossary of military/abbreviation terms anywhere? Also is there a glossary of the places and the country to which they belong.

  Posted January 17, 2014 11:59 AM

• by simonedi moderator

  not yet arthur but there are various forum topics you can post in if stuck and a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people including a fair number of veterans and people in active service, plus links to various sources too,

  Posted January 17, 2014 7:26 PM

• by debcam

  are we going to run out of diaries to tag soon? i notice that some are saying they are complete when I go to classify them and also, pages 5 & 6 are now empty? Am enjoying it immensely (even tho it is a bit frustrating at times!). hope we don't finish it all too soon! are more on they way?

  Posted January 17, 2014 10:25 PM

• by jyates14

  Hello my name is James Yates and I go to school where in English we are learning about world war one and we have been told to check out this webbsite

  Posted January 17, 2014 11:36 PM

• by simonedi moderator

  cool its good to see schools getting in on this, have a look through the "recent" tab, you will find some really interesting bits highlighted, like first hand accounts of the christmas truce, medals being awarded, shellings, and even soldiers unhappy about locals filling in their latrine

  Posted January 18, 2014 11:31 AM

• by Horsegunner1

  Dear All,

  For any of you working on the Royal Horse Artillery diaries, I modestly inform you that I am a former Officer in the Kings Troop RHA, and thus have recent experience in the use and movement of the 13 Pounder QF, and all of the problems of using horses in the field, as well as experience of many of the battlefield sites associated with the RHA.

  I'll keep an eye on the specific boards for RHA type questions....

  Posted January 19, 2014 2:02 PM

• by spof moderator

  Welcome to the project and enjoy it. Look forward to getting some help and advice from "the horse's mouth" (groan)

  Posted January 19, 2014 2:53 PM

• by SarahtheEntwife

  This is amazing! I'm very happy to help out. My great-grandfather was a cadet in the proto-US Air Force (I think technically it was part of the Army at that point?) during WWI and I helped my mother transcribe his letters home.

  Posted January 19, 2014 6:10 PM

• by pudsey63

  Hello. I find this endlessly fascinating and absorbing. I have a great interest in family history and am currently classifying the diary of the KOYLI unit that a great-uncle later served with. My husband is a space buff and happily passed on his email invitation to me knowing it would be right up my street.
  I am very much an amateur but am enjoying learning so much as part of this project.

  Posted January 22, 2014 5:23 PM

• by Bryonny

  Sorry, only just spotted this! Hi, I've just joined the project today.

  Posted January 27, 2014 2:18 PM

• by simonedi moderator

  hehe welcome!

  Posted January 27, 2014 6:34 PM

• by canalboat

  Hi everyone I'm Richard (canalboat) who got interested in the project thro researching my grandfather's past in WW1.

  Posted January 27, 2014 6:40 PM

• by eatyourgreens moderator, admin

  Hello! I'm Jim, from Zooniverse at Oxford University. I'm here to help fix bugs with the site and help out, where I can, with questions about the project and tagging the diaries. I've also been using the interface myself, tagging diary pages when I find the time. My grandfather, on the English side of my family, lost two brothers in WWI. They're recorded on the memorial to men with no known grave at Loos.

  Posted January 28, 2014 12:59 PM

• by Blackfriar

  Hi, I'm Ruth. Had 2 grandads in WW1, one gassed. Husband's grandad was RSM and wounded in both world wars. I am a teacher and interested in history and genealogy. Happy to help out and get lost in the diaries. Bad for school prep!!

  Posted March 8, 2014 2:38 PM

• by Maria64

  I just wanted to say a proper hello. Genealogy brought me to 'Operation War Diary'. I was looking to learn the 'back story' of being a soldier in a World War, to step into their experiences, their present. My journey so far has illuminated my ignorance and fuelled my endeavours to educate myself as to what it was like to march a mile in my ancestors' boots. Even with the fascinating tactical and technical aspects, military life and raw combat, individuals shine through with their heroism. And though they're not 'my soldiers', tagging the War Diaries has created a kind of alternate family with them for me. When you tag a soldier's name and number, you bring them back: they belonged to someone, they were important - they ARE important! I hope somewhere, they're maybe watching this project and are proud knowing that now, they can never be forgotten. Thank you for a fascinating project.

  Posted April 12, 2014 10:52 PM

• by Memento_Mori

  Hello, Maria64!

  I feel much the same way as you. It can get surprisingly emotional sometimes. You form attachments to these ordinary people who have long passed. We're making an easier job of it for the historians and researchers; and perhaps someone searching for their ancestor's name can find it because you or I tagged it.
  It is very gratifying.

  Posted April 15, 2014 12:30 AM

• by jaccles

  Great project, enjoying working through the records

  Posted May 20, 2014 2:34 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hello everybody! I'm Rob, recently joined the project and also a recent arrival at the Imperial War Museum. You'll see me posting updates on the forums as I get up to speed with what's going on.

  Happy tagging!

  Posted May 22, 2014 9:28 AM

• by floodmouse

  Hi, I have just discovered your project through the Zooniverse website. I hope I can help out with the tagging. I studied history in college so it's nice to get my feet wet again. It's been a long time since I've viewed any original manuscripts. I'm glad to see this information becoming accessible for study online!!!

  Posted June 27, 2014 11:35 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Great to have you here, @floodmouse!

  Posted June 28, 2014 2:20 PM

• by AGJUBA

  Hello from Texas! I don't know how I first heard about this project, but I find WWI fascinating and am loving reading and tagging the diaries!

  Posted July 12, 2014 5:01 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi @AGJUBA - great to have you on board!

  Posted July 14, 2014 9:53 AM

• by 141Dial34

  Just looked up ..."played the Sgts at Association" and it's soccer!

  Posted October 15, 2014 4:45 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Yes, Association Football 😄

  Good to have you on board, @141Dial34!

  Posted October 15, 2014 8:40 AM

• by KathyW

  Just started with the project having seen a tweet about it. Excellent idea. Decided to look at my Grandfather's regiment and I am finding it both humbling and thought provoking. The Remembrance silence is especially profound this year.

  Posted November 10, 2014 8:20 PM

• by HeatherC moderator

  Welcome Kathy - nice to have to you with us. Please ask if there's anything you need to know.

  Posted November 10, 2014 9:27 PM

• by wildcatjenny moderator

  Good to meet you, Kathy. Happy Tagging!

  wildcatjenny

  Posted November 11, 2014 2:07 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Kathy, good to have you on board!

  Rob

  Posted November 11, 2014 11:28 AM

• by DZM admin

  Welcome to OWD, @KathyW! An appropriate day to be joining us.

  Posted November 11, 2014 3:38 PM

• by lenofi

  Hello all! I am an archaeologist (though I have done a bit of everything from field to lab to museum), but I really enjoy historical research so this seemed like a wonderful way to make use of my free time. It's such a fascinating project, and I am so glad to see this community devote so much care to preserving and making accessible these primary sources.
  Thanks for letting us get involved!

  Lauren

  Posted November 14, 2014 4:54 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Lauren, good to have you on board! I've done a bit of archaeology myself, back in my student days. I still like to keep my hand in.

  Posted November 14, 2014 9:37 AM

• by DZM admin

  Hi @lenofi, welcome to Operation War Diary! The community here is indeed amazing and really impressive (I'm a fairly recent arrival myself, and I never cease to be impressed).

  Good luck and I hope to see you around OWD Talk!

  DZM

  Posted November 14, 2014 8:48 PM

• by Carolondon

  Hello all. Not a good start I'm afraid! I signed up enthusiastically last Feb after WDYTYA Live in London - then another WW1 project took over...and I've only just found the space to seriously study how to do this tagging! I've spent time going through the instructions and background, and also getting my head round the forums and useful information. FINALLY started by choosing a Diary......and have managed to click FINISHED before I even started.....Oh dear.....am going to give up for today. Maybe I'll just download the whole diary so that I can see where I am starting from? Current interest Indian Infantry Oct-Dec 1914.

  Posted November 22, 2014 5:10 PM

• by HeatherC moderator

  Hi and welcome (back) to the Project

  Don't worry about clicking finish by mistake - I bet we've all done it at least once and since each page is tagged by 5 people before it is removed from tagging then hopefully the other 4 will tag it OK. Good timing if you are interested in Indian Army diaries as we started them not very long ago.

  Posted November 22, 2014 8:37 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to Carolondon's comment.

  Good to have you (back) on board! As Heather says, each page is tagged by multiple people, so we've allowed for the occasional error 😄

  Posted November 24, 2014 7:48 AM

• by bordertart

  Hello,

  I'm Elaine, a family historian. I joined a week ago and chose an RFA Brigade diary as we have family connections with the artillery in WW1 and WW2. I have no specific military knowledge, other than general knowledge, so this will be a real learning curve. I'm also engaged as a volunteer working at my local archives indexing records of inmates of the local asylum (and will soon be indexing records around the WW1 period - it will be interesting to see if the demographic profile of patient admissions changes as a result of the war).

  I would like to clarify two points at this stage to ensure I'm not under or over tagging:

  The RFA brigade diary makes frequent mention of the movement and deployment of individual gun batteries in the unit - do you require each of these to be tagged as an 'other unit'?

  Is the tag 'Unit Activity/In the line' appropriate for the gun batteries who are, in the language of the dairy 'in action' in 1914 or is this tag exclusively for infantry units in the context of trench warfare?

  Many thanks in anticipation!

  Posted December 1, 2014 2:15 PM

• by HeatherC moderator

  Hi Elaine and welcome to the Project.

  To try and answer your questions. For the first one can I direct you to our relatively new FAQ, spread over several threads and I think it does answer what to do about Sub-Units (which is what we'd call the smaller units an infantry battalion or an artillery brigade is split into) . The first two answers here http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000g/discussions/DWD0000lts should help - for Companies substitute Batteries! Basically don't use the "other unit" tag but there are times when you will tag each sub-unit separately. Please say if this does not make sense once you see the FAQ.

  The Field Guide defines "in the line" as being in the front line of trenches so I don't think you should use it for the batteries unless they actually say they ARE in the front line trenches (not likely to happen often!)

  Just in case you haven't seen it you might also want to take a quick look at our hashtag list too! http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000j/discussions/DWD0000d05

  Happy tagging!

  Posted December 1, 2014 5:50 PM

• by DZM admin

  Hi @bordertart, welcome to Operation War Diary!

  You have experience indexing records! That will definitely be a valuable skill you bring to this project. Very happy to have you; hope to see you around Talk a whole bunch!

  Posted December 1, 2014 5:57 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Elaine, great to have you on board. Looks like Heather's already answered your queries, but don't hesitate to ask if anything else is unclear.

  Rob

  Posted December 2, 2014 10:16 AM

• by jasoncward

  Hello everyone, I am Jason and I am excited I found this project.

  I live in Tampa, Florida, USA and I am interested in The Great War. I was pointed here by a professor in a class I am taking, although I am actually a couple decades+ beyond the "typical" age for a student. My professor went to a seminar at Oxford over last summer and heard of this and other similar projects, so he is sharing them with those who have an interest. I have spent most of my life with World War II as something of a hobby, but in the last few years I am focusing more on the First World War. I have visited the Imperial War Museum in London and several non-London museum sites several times; I go in search of pillboxes and other relics of 20th century war whenever I am in the UK; and I am trying to work my way through all the major European battlefields. I work for an airline so all this travel comes a bit easier for me than it might seem.

  Like most of us, I think I am fascinated both by the stunning life these soldiers lived AND by the ongoing implications of the war. It's no great historical discovery for me to say that I came to an interest in WW1 after once and for all concluding that there is no WW2 (in Europe) without WW1. It's arguably like a continuing war (or just simmering below the outbreak of war) in Europe from early 1900s through to 1945...and even on to the end of the Cold War if you consider non-combat conflicts that all have their root, as far as I can tell, in the fall of the ancient monarchies and the resulting period of struggles for power. The 20th is an entire century of conflict in Europe really.

  I've tagged a few pages and love it. The handwriting is very readable so far and is much the way we were told to write when I was in elementary school - what we call "cursive" writing or what you might call "longhand" or "joined-up" writing. So there are no big problems for me and now that I've found the forum and available help resources I will be able to tag a bit more accurately with unit designation and other abbreviations.

  So maybe I am one of the first Americans helping out here? Not that it matters, I am happy to be a small contributor to history. I hope anyone will contact me anytime for a discussion, question, or if you're ever in Florida and want to meet to discuss history! (and beer of course!)

  best regards

  Jason

  Posted December 5, 2014 11:13 PM

• by HeatherC moderator

  Hi Jason and welcome to the project.

  I don't think you're the only American here and in fact we have people from all over the world involved in the Project now, which is really nice. Great to hear that you were pointed here by a professor and that you are finding it interesting so far. Do have a look at the forums for our list of hashtags http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000j/discussions/DWD0000d05 (which brings an extra dimension to most Zooniverse projects) and for our FAQs on this board http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000g If there's anything you need to know, just ask.

  Heather

  Posted December 6, 2014 12:47 PM

• by cyngast moderator

  Jason, Welcome to a fellow American! I came to this project through a short article about it that Smithsonian Magazine put up on their Facebook page about six or seven months ago, and I continue to find it absolutely fascinating. I have learned more than I could have imagined about the lives of the men on the Western Front, about some of those men themselves, and about the geography of northern France. (I had no idea there are caves under Arras until a Royal Engineer unit I was tagging went there!)

  I hope your experience will be as amazing as mine has been.

  Posted December 8, 2014 12:26 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Jason. Good to have you on board 😃

  Posted December 8, 2014 9:52 AM

• by Andyzoo

  Hi

  I've just signed up after downloading the war diary of my Grandfather's regiment "10th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment". If possible I would have like to have worked on that particular diary but I realise that may not be possible and I'm happy to help on others.

  Is there a list of war diaries that have been completed in Operation War Diary and a list of up and coming ones? If it was possible to select war diaries that were of personal interest it would be a great motivator!

  Regards
  Andy

  Posted December 8, 2014 12:25 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Welcome aboard, Andy. Good to have you here.

  At the moment, the way diaries are presented is essentially random, although I do agree that it would be good to be able to be a little more flexible in the way we select them. What I can tell you is that the 10th East Yorkshire diary hasn't yet been tagged and nor is it in our queue to be tagged, which means that we haven't received the file from the National Archives yet. It will come through at some point, so keep your eyes peeled for it. In the meantime, we're trying to think up ways to better control the diary queue, although we have pretty limited resources at the moment to make any changes.

  Posted December 8, 2014 4:14 PM

• by Andyzoo in response to ral104's comment.

  Many thanks for your quick and helpful reply. I'll keep an eye out for the 10th East Yorkshire diary but will start on another one in the meantime. I think what has been achieved already with limited resources is very impressive!

  Posted December 8, 2014 4:36 PM

• by DZM admin

  Hello to both @jasoncward and @Andyzoo ! Welcome to Operation War Diary and to the Zooniverse!

  Posted December 8, 2014 8:16 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to Andyzoo's comment.

  Thanks! Glad to hear it 😃

  Posted December 9, 2014 9:05 AM

• by jasoncward

  DZM, ral104, cgastwein@aol.com and HeatherC - thanks for the welcome. I know there's some insight already in these forums so I'll sift through the posts etc. for most questions I have. But the top question for me at the moment is how can I determine the identity of the author in the diaries I'm tagging?

  Posted December 10, 2014 2:41 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  It's not always possible, I'm afraid. Sometimes, they'll sign their name at the bottom of entries, but at other times they don't. Sometimes the CO wrote the diary, more often it was the adjutant. So if you have sources which tell you who these were for a particular unit at a particular time, that can help, but there's no hard and fast rule which lets us identify them.

  Posted December 10, 2014 8:24 AM

• by dgrupultsnik

  Hello there, I was intrigued by a story about crowd-sourced research, found the Zooniverse and then this, which strikes me as an absolutely tremendous idea implemented well. 😃

  I've got no military experience, but I've been doing my best to educate myself for this. There are a few things I'm still unsure about, like the commonality of the Indian surname "Singh", or the meaning of the abbreviation "boy", but my only real question is: if I can't tell how something (like a name) is spelled, is it better to give it my best guess, or to avoid it if possible?

  Thank you all for running such a wonderful site here, I look forward to doing my part. 😃

  Posted May 28, 2015 3:31 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi there, @dgrupultsnik! Welcome aboard, and thanks for getting involved!

  Probably the best thing to do, if you have specific queries about spellings or abbreviations is to start a thread in one of the Q&A forums - there are always people willing to help. We even have a board for getting help with handwriting, so feel free to ask away. Try and include a link to the page in question, so we can check it out and do our best to help.

  Enjoy tagging 😃

  Posted May 28, 2015 3:41 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  I've been looking through a few of the pages you've tagged, @dgrupultsnik. It takes a while to get used to some of the handwriting 😄

  Singh is a common surname in some Indian Army regiments - just tag names as you see them, even if they are all the same! The abbreviation 'boy' is actually 'Coy', which is a British Army shortening of 'Company', a unit below battalion in size.

  Posted May 28, 2015 3:48 PM

• by gaz1961

  Hello I am Gary - keen to help in the War Diary project
  Have done some research on ancestors in WWI - Mainly the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry 6th Bn and 9th Service Bn the Welsh Regiment.(are either of these diaries in the project)

  Posted December 19, 2015 6:58 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Gary, good to have you on board 😃

  We've had some diaries from the 1st King's Shropshire Light Infantry, but nothing from the 6th Bn yet. Same deal with the Welsh Regiment. So keep your eyes peeled. They'll appear in the tagging queue at some point.

  In the meantime, if you have any questions, please just ask. There's always somebody who can help.

  Posted December 19, 2015 7:38 PM

• by Misawa

  I learned of this site a few weeks ago. I have found it quite interesting. It is a challenge to read diaries and try to interpret the writing of some of the authors. Others have exceptional calligraphy that is a pleasure to look at for pages on end.

  I have learned to keep an open link with CWGC site to check on casualty spellings. Also, it is sobering to be writing about a person and a few pages later learn that they are either killed or missing.

  Very useful project for cold winters nights in Japan.

  Posted January 6, 2016 11:19 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  A belated welcome, @Misawa! Thanks for getting involved.

  The writing can be a challenge at times, but feel free to ask for help in the Handwriting section of the forum - there's always somebody able to tease meaning out of those illegible squiggles.

  Posted January 6, 2016 12:52 PM

• by Lizzieann

  I found this site via the National Archives, as I've done transcribing on a merchant navy project and this one looks fascinating. I like that we have autonomy as to where and what to tag but presumably you make some allowances for the first few pages being a learning experience? Hope so, as we can't go back to make corrections.

  regards, Lizzie Ann.

  Posted January 9, 2016 10:53 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Lizzie Ann, thanks for getting involved!

  Don't worry about making some mistakes - each page is tagged by a minimum of five people, so we've built some tolerance into the system 😃 If you have any questions, please just ask. We're always happy to help.

  Rob

  Posted January 11, 2016 9:10 AM

• by Lizzieann

  Good to know, thanks. I've just noticed hashtags by previous tagger on the diary i'm doing, so they make sense to me now.

  Posted January 11, 2016 4:39 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Excellent! This is a useful link for the current list of hashtags we encourage people to use: http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000j/discussions/DWD0000d05

  If you think we need a new tag for anything, do let us know. We generally have a discussion about it and then adopt it if enough people think it's necessary.

  Posted January 12, 2016 9:36 AM

• by Zilknitha

  Hello everyone! I am Penny, username Zilknitha. Found this site through the National Archives, and I am keen to start helping with the War Diary project. My background is in Fine Art and I am fascinated by how much our handwriting has changed throughout history. I am not so knowledgeable about some of the Company names and military abbreviations.

  It is very interesting going through some of the pages. Is there a way to tag signatures? I have found a few on one page, I am wondering what the purpose of this practice was.

  Posted January 12, 2016 8:10 PM

• by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

  Hello Penny, Here are some Google links for some Military and Medical Abbreviations which you may find useful.

  List of Abbreviations 1914-1918 Army list link: http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/great-war-on-land/general-interest/881-abreviations-army-list.html#sthash.2tnsRkwK.dpbs

  Great War abbreviations link: http://www.briancurragh.com/page6.htm

  Common military abbreviations link: http://www.1914-1918.net/abbrev.htm

  List of medical abbreviations link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_abbreviations:_A

  P.S. Under the heading Discussion Board – The Mess Hall has some useful tips.

  Also as Ral The Moderator has also mentioned The Tag list is useful on link: http://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000j/discussions/DWD0000d05
  I Copied and pasted this into a word document and printed it off - very useful to have near you when tagging.

  Posted January 12, 2016 9:28 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Penny - thanks for getting involved. Great to have you on board.

  Signatures on diary pages are generally where the adjutant or commanding officer has signed off the record. It didn't always happen. Depends on the unit.

  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. We're always happy to help 😃

  Posted January 12, 2016 10:04 PM

• by cyngast moderator

  Hi, Penny, Welcome!

  I was just going to add that I tag signatures using the Person tag, using In Command or Author of Diary for the reason. In some of the smaller units, such as ambulances, machine gun squadrons, trench mortar batteries or Royal Engineers, the CO often keeps the diary, too.

  When I started working on this project, I knew next to nothing about the British Army. In the nearly two years since then--I can't believe it has been that long; I still feel like a newbie--I have learned an amazing amount, not only about the war and the army, but also about the geography of France.

  Just dig in!

  Posted January 13, 2016 3:12 PM

• by Zilknitha

  Thank you cyngast!

  That is really helpful advice. It is amazing what information we pick up just from working with the source material.

  I am really enjoying the project.

  Posted January 16, 2016 5:23 PM

• by Annabelle17

  Hi, I am Annabelle, and I'm glad to have stumbled upon this work. I help out with archival work as a volunteer at similar projects in The Netherlands. Having family (my grandad; and 2 great-uncles were killed) who fought in the First W.W. makes what he and others experienced more tactile, visual.

  Posted March 18, 2017 11:46 PM

• by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

  Hello Annabelle, I hope you enjoy working on this project you will find everyone very helpful. I see you are working on the diary of the 22nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery Diary. I am also tagging this diary and it is very interesting. You will find on pages 119 and 120 two very good sketches, one of them is a panorama of the trenches showing an aeroplane.

  In the Talk Section, the Discussion Boards will give you helpful information and useful tips about the diary pages. There is also a list of what to tag on the Hashtag list - link: https://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000j/discussions/DWD0000d05

  I found this very useful to have by me when working – I just copied and pasted it into my WW1 file and printed it off. There is also a list of What Not to hashtag Link: https://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000j/discussions/DWD0000enf

  It is always nice to see new volunteers joining this most interesting project.

  Actually, I also do some voluntary computer work for my main library concerning Electoral Roll Registers etc and one of the ladies I work with comes from the Netherlands. I live in England.

  Posted March 19, 2017 12:39 AM

• by cyngast moderator

  Hi, Annabelle, and welcome to Operation War Diary!

  I see that Marie has already filled you in on some of the useful tips we have compiled over the past three years. I just want to be clear that there is a difference between "tags," the official list in the menu you'll find on the left-hand side of every page, and our ever-growing "hashtag" list. This latter has developed through volunteer input to cover some of the topics that they have thought important enough to capture. We made The Definitive Hashtag List (Marie's first link) so that this information could be captured with some consistency, making it more useful to researchers.

  Please feel free to post any questions you may have! Field Artillery diaries can be confusing, as the batteries tend to move around and temporarily join other groups. We'll do our best to sort out any problems!

  Cynthia

  Posted March 19, 2017 5:43 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist

  Hi Annabelle! Welcome aboard and thanks for getting involved. As Cynthia and Marie have already said, just fire away if you have any questions. We're always happy to help 😃

  Rob

  Posted March 20, 2017 10:03 AM

• by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

  Message for Annabelle, you may find this list of abbreviations helpful when tagging the diaries:

  http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/great-war-on-land/general-interest/881-abreviations-army-list.html#sthash.2tnsRkwK.jg7wJ34F.dpbs

  Also a list of medical abbreviations if you are working on Field ambulance Diaries. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_abbreviations:_A

  Posted March 20, 2017 10:00 PM

• by neillintern

  Hi, my name is Neil and I just started here last night, so still getting used to the whole thing. I was born in the UK, moved to Australia and now living in Italy.

  I'm an EOD Tech, so currently in between jobs and thought I'd do something useful (in between the wonderful coffee and cakes here). Any advice/help gratefully received and look forward to working with you all.

  Posted January 31, 2018 11:03 AM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to neillintern's comment.

  Hi Neil,

  Welcome aboard - good to have you here. We're always happy to help if you have any questions, so don't hesitate to ask. You'll usually get a response within a few hours.

  When you say EOD Tech, is that explosive ordnance disposal?

  Rob

  Posted January 31, 2018 12:48 PM

• by neillintern in response to ral104's comment.

  Hi Rob,

  Thanks, I may have a few questions, but see how I go. Most time consuming thing at the moment is finding/translating French place names from the 'English'...all good fun.

  And, yes, that is indeed explosive ordnance disposal, purely from a Humanitarian perspective and mostly working in SE Asia. However, in saying that, I do keep a strong eye on all the munitions that are being found in France and Belgium of WW1, as they have their own teams purely for that purpose.

  Cheers
  Neil

  Posted January 31, 2018 1:06 PM

• by cyngast moderator

  Hi, Neil, and Welcome!

  Some of the diary authors did have a way of mangling French place names, didn't they? Most of the misspellings I find, however, are usually minor, such as a missing or added letter or two. Google Maps usually offers a number of choices that might be the place you're looking for. The problem with some of the names is that the places don't actually exist any more, or have been absorbed into the government unit of a larger town nearby, so they don't always show up on Google Maps. Zooming in on the Earth View option sometimes shows names of these smaller clusters of farms.

  You may also find names that are consistently misspelled the same way. This happened because they were misspelled on the army's maps.

  If the troops are in the line, you may see actual trench names. These are often labeled as something like Rosie Street or Hell Road and should be tagged just as they are noted in the diary.

  As Rob said, we try to answer questions within a few hours. I'm located in the western US, so I'm sometimes available in the wee hours European time.

  Cynthia

  Posted January 31, 2018 2:57 PM

• by neillintern in response to cyngast's comment.

  Hi Cynthia,

  Thanks for the welcome and all the information.

  I'm getting there with the names, just time consuming is all and Google is the way to go, just zoomed in a lot.

  Cheers
  Neil

  Posted January 31, 2018 3:19 PM

• by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to neillintern's comment.

  That's a job and a half! Stay safe.

  Posted January 31, 2018 3:53 PM

• by neillintern in response to ral104's comment.

  It is a bit! Always try and stay safe!!

  Posted January 31, 2018 6:13 PM