War Diaries Talk

What sort of diaries do you prefer to tag?

  • brownfox by brownfox

    Idle question:

    Do you prefer tagging diaries for:
    infantry,
    cavalry,
    artillery,
    engineers,
    signals,
    field hospitals,
    veterinary,
    supply,
    sanitary,
    something else?

    And why?

    Posted

  • wildcatjenny by wildcatjenny moderator

    Infantry! Is definitely my favorite.

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Infantry definitely, but i did persevere all the way through an RE field squadron and find that quite interesting too. In fact I've tried to do one of each type to get a better idea of what others are seeing. I'm afraid the most boring so far was the ASC Horse Transport Company who managed to get a whole month on every page and many days just said "normal routine". Mind you I'm sure they were GLAD it was boring!

    Posted

  • Poodle by Poodle

    I started with infantry, having lost four great uncles, all infantrymen. Then I went through the war with the 19th Hussars, another great uncle's regiment. I've tagged quite a few different types, and have found all of them interesting to some degree. Even the signals company. How I felt for them, struggling against the elements and the Germans, trying to keep lines of communication going. Not sure about sanitary though. Ugh.
    I do think it often depends on the officer writing the diary. A description of the weather or countryside, a caring or humorous comment makes all the difference.

    Posted

  • brownfox by brownfox

    I do like infantry, but I actually prefer doing engineers. Less depressing (No 'Quiet day; casualties one man killed and two wounded'), and I suspect if I'd been born 70 years earlier, that's where I'd have tried to enlist. I'm a bridge-builder, not a fighter. 😃

    My great-great-uncle was killed whilst serving with a field ambulance so I like them too. Unfortunately his unit won't be up for scanning for a while yet.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I found the veterinary section diary I tagged absolutely fascinating. One of the artillery diaries had some of my favourite quotes - the author was so funny, even when describing some truly awful days he had. The infantry diary I'm currently doing is quite dull so far, but they haven't taken part in any fighting yet (and I'm sure I shall wish I was back to the dull sections when I start reading about casualties).

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I think the Cavalry regiments are the most interesting overall, even though the ones I've tagged spent long periods of time well back from the lines waiting and exercising horses. But when they get into action, it's usually pretty exciting. I've actually found that all types that I've done so far have their strong points and their more tedious moments.

    Posted

  • SarahtheEntwife by SarahtheEntwife

    Infantry is the most interesting in a kind of classic war-history sort of way, but I've been really enjoying both the Signal Corps and Hygeine Corps diaries...they'll be pages of routine work interspersed with random brilliant projects and observations and things like that. (One unit had weeks of experimentation trying to figure out how to get the men their desperately-needed baths without having them all promptly die of hypothermia because it was December and they didn't have a nice heated bathroom to dry off in.) It's a side of the war you don't usually hear about.

    Posted