struggling to understand war diaries.

[Khloe]

On some pages of war diaries, the places where they state they are moving along way away from france to belgium then back into France or the places just dont exist or to places then way in the south of france. so im struggling to understand their movements.  I also dont understand the wording they use  for example "coys" or "crys"  (im awful at reading handwriting) but its just one of the examples.

 

Would I be correct in saying the "batt" is battalion (sorry if it's wrong) just trying to learn how to understand it  ( i have looked at the long, long train page but to no luck)

[Michelle Young]

Coys - Companies

Bttn -Battalion

[charlie2]

Locre is also spelt Loker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loker 

Charlie

[Khloe]

1 hour ago, Michelle Young said:

Coys - Companies

Bttn -Battalion

Thank you for clarifying!!

[clk]

Hi Khloe,

May I ask which Battalion diary you are currently looking at, and the time period?

Regards
Chris

[Khloe]

Hi Chris.

I am looking at the 2nd Battalion Suffolk regiment War Diary   from April 1916 to September 1916

Kindest regards.

Khloe

[Khloe]

1 hour ago, charlie2 said:

Locre is also spelt Loker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loker 

Charlie

thank you for letting me know Charlie.

Might you know why it was spelt Locre and not Loker?

kindest regards.

Khloe

[charlie2]

2 minutes ago, Khloe said:

Might you know why it was spelt Locre and not Loker?

Belgium has at least 2 languages, Locre is the French spelling and Loker the Flemish 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Belgium

Charlie

[clk]

Hi Khloe,

The higher level Brigade and Division HQ diaries often add more context to that of the Battalion diary, as they can contain things such as orders, maps and reports on operations that aren't included in the lower level Battalion diary. For the time period you're looking at the 2/Suffolks were part of 76 Brigade in 3 Division, so it might be worth looking at these free downloads:

76 Infantry Brigade HQ - link and link; and
3 Division HQ (General Staff) - link, link, link, link, and link

If you were to need any help in reading trench map references, this link is useful; and these websites can allow you to plot them - link/link/link

Good luck with your research.

Regards
Chris  

[Khloe]

Thank you so much!!    Now i dont have to struggle to read handwriting as much haha.
ive been looking through and found a map code that is not appearing on the websites.might you be able to help with this??  what im refering to is where it says "Ref 1/27,000 Map 62DN.EM"
  thank you for reading

[WhiteStarLine]

Gee @Khloe that is a really tough one as it is almost indecipherable and does not use standard map notation.  What they are trying to say is

• "Ref 1/20,000 Map 62d.NE" means use map 62d (Amiens) and specifically the NE quadrant, a 16km x 10 km area.  Normally written as 62d.NE.
• The next line says that the brigade will move to a feature known as the sandpit, which is in square E, numbered square 18 and sub grid d.  Normally this is written as 62d.E.18.d.

@clk Chris has sent you 3 websites that will convert 62d.E.18.d to a modern location, now on the approach to the Albert-Picardie Aeroport near Meaulte.