Another war diary term - T.A.C.

[MaxD]

Comes up a few times, see attached, always in the context "T.A.C. given at [time]"  - gives the sense of an alert - what does it mean please?.

 

(Definitely T.A.C. not T.H.C. - other occurrences are better written - and always with full stops so not tac as in tactical.

 

Max

[jay dubaya]

Tactical Artillery Command/Control?

 

J

[MaxD]

Thanks but I don't think so.  It appears just 3 times in a battalion war diary between January and December 1916, (not at all in 1915).  The example is the first time.  The second appearance is  "TAC given at 4 am.  Artillery activity in the afternoon"  The 3rd time it appears as "A TAC was given to Brigade Reserve". 

There is nothing in the relevant brigade diary for the same days that sheds any light.

 

Local hokum??

 

Max

[Marilyne]

T.A. for Target Acquisition?? And then C for Control or Coordination???

Might make sense, tactically speaking… Désignation d'Objectif we still call that… Targets in a certain observation sector needs to be defined as to distance, importance etc...

"Avant droite, trois cent, l'arbre en boule"!!! … or something like that…

 

M.

[MaxD]

Thank you but again I don't think so. The letters may fit but it doesn't make sense as a term.   "Tactical Acquisition Command (or control) was given at 4 am"...meaning what?  (As a Gunner with many years target acquisition experience I am familiar with the words)  In the context, "given" looks as if it might mean "announced" so if, to make a silly example, it meant "day off" it would be saying (a) day off was given (announced).

 

The infrequency of its appearance, 3 times in a whole year's war diary, and something I haven't seen in any other diary I've looked at suggests something relatively unimportant that meant something only to the unit concerned (8 KLR).

 

Unless anyone can find the initials used in the same way elsewhere I think it is probably not worth pursuing.

 

Thank you anyway for your interest.

 

Max

[DavidOwen]

Max

 

Does it always appear when in the Trenches and when the Enemy is active?

 

Could it be some sort of Trench Alert Command, i.e. a warning?

 

Cannot find it on my usual goto abbreviations site...

 

Regards

 

David

[DavidOwen]

Following on from above how about "Take Artillery Cover" as a command to those on the receiving end of an enemy barrage? No evidence to support it, just a guess....

[MaxD]

David

 

In the first instance the direction of the artillery bombardment is unclear.  In the second the "T.A.C" was at 4 am, artillery activity (whose?) in the afternoon.  In the 3rd there is no reference to artillery in or out.  I had guessed (wildly) at Trench Alarm Call, guessed again and gave up when I found myself thinking it was to announce the arrival of Tea and Cakes.

 

I feel I am wasting the forum's valuable time as, like you, I find nothing sensible in any list of abbreviations/acronyms and something that merits recording just 3 times in a year can't be anything really significant.

 

Feel free to lock this off whenever the mood takes you.

 

Best

Max.

 

 

[DavidOwen]

Not inclined to lock this Max as it definitely is not a waste of the forum's or my time in my view.

 

Quite like your Trench Alarm Call....

 

David

[battiscombe]

I had checked in some signallers memoirs and similar , as I had wondered if might have been one of the morse alerts but cannot find this term used... amongst gunner signallers: T.D.O.s were Telephone Dug Outs so Telephone something, perhaps.? alarm call possible..

[MaxD]

Certainly something like that, a thing that was given/sent to/transmitted to is definitely the sense conveyed by the context.  Its rarity suggest it caught the imagination of the diary writer just a few times but perhaps happened quire a lot. 

 

Thanks for coming in on it.

 

Max

[EAST YORKSHIRE]

Hello Max, just wondering if the reason there was no mention of it in 15 that it was a different person writing/printing it. You will know as you have the docs. I suppose different officers have different ways of putting things down on paper. Just a speculative guess but I thought i would mention it, Ian.

[MaxD]

You have a point Ian. The three lone instances are in April (one) and May (two) 1916.  From Jun onwards a different hand takes over the diary (pretty obvious as the first chap can spell casualties where the next one puts casualities).  So chap A thinks it worth putting it in, chap B thinks not.

 

Thanks for the thought..

 

Max