Odd entry in POW records

[TerryB]

While searching through records of POW camps, I found the oddest entry I've ever seen. Next to someone's name was a measure of written musical notes. The bar went all the way to the end of the page, but there were only a few notes. Someone wrote "OK" after the notes ended. I don't read music, but will go back and look again and print it up and see if I can post it here in hopes someone can decipher it. Click on image to enlarge.

 

[khalleron]

If you look closely, the music is not really 'next to' anyone, it comes at the end of the list - the page has several columns and the music comes *after* Andrew Fox rather than next to Chas. Wilkins.

After the bar a new list begins.

Still pretty interesting, though.

Is there somewhere we can look at the entire register?

 

[Robtweb1]

I'm assuming this is a microfilm? The odd item appears to be something superimposed over this document at the time it was tranferred to microfilm. You can see where the top and bottom lines cover letters on the rows above and below.

 

[khalleron]

I don't think it's superimposed - it looks like part of the document to me.

The reason I'd like to see more of the register is to see what kinds of dividers between lists was typical.

My hypothesis would be that the bar is typically used to divide different lists, but the musical notes are a doodle.

 

[TerryB]

I don't think it's superimposed - it looks like part of the document to me.

The reason I'd like to see more of the register is to see what kinds of dividers between lists was typical.



My hypothesis would be that the bar is typically used to divide different lists, but the musical notes are a doodle.

Yes, I did notice, once I went back to find it, that the bar was seemingly a "coda," unconnected to anyone's name. I found it using Ancestry.com, and searching the name "Ervin." I suppose any name on the page would pull it up. I also notice that many "end of list" signs are the notes that some officer or other has signed off on the list and what he did with the men, "delivered for exchange," for instance.

The weirdest note I ever saw in a list like this was for Alton Barracks or Rock Island, I forget which. On the morning report, a citizen was listed as "either Mr. or Mrs. [I don't recall the name]" a citzen who was interned for about a month, then released. What a story that must have been. A man caught in female clothing? Someone who was gender identitiy conflicted? Or a potential spy in disguise?

 

[khalleron]

Yes, I did notice, once I went back to find it, that the bar was seemingly a "coda," unconnected to anyone's name. I found it using Ancestry.com, and searching the name "Ervin." I suppose any name on the page would pull it up. I also notice that many "end of list" signs are the notes that some officer or other has signed off on the list and what he did with the men, "delivered for exchange," for instance.

The weirdest note I ever saw in a list like this was for Alton Barracks or Rock Island, I forget which. On the morning report, a citizen was listed as "either Mr. or Mrs. [I don't recall the name]" a citzen who was interned for about a month, then released. What a story that must have been. A man caught in female clothing? Someone who was gender identitiy conflicted? Or a potential spy in disguise?

Or a woman soldier.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

I can sight-read music, so I gave it a shot.

The key is unclear, so I used a variation of the Do-Ra-Me-Fa-So-La-Te-Do, being the numbers 1 - 8.

I concidered the possibility the first two notes on the music score to be the beginning of the scale (1), the 2nd note to be the third on the scale (3) because there is no note on the space between the 2nd and 4th line, etc. It might sound like: 1, 1, 3, 5. Following that are 3 whole notes? Then a quarter note followed by two 8th notes going up in scale? Then two 8th notes on the same line and sound as the first two notes. It might sound like: 1, 1, 3, 5, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 1, 1.

I also concidered the possibility of the first two notes to be 5th on the musical scale. It would sound like: 5, 5, 7, 2, 6, 6, 6, 7, 2.

Or they could be 3rd on the musical scale. It would sound like: 3, 3, 5, 7, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 7.

None of these musical note sound combinations sounds like anything I have heard of so far.

I must say the first description of what it might sound like makes more musical sense than the other two.

Clear as mud?

--BBF

 

[TerryB]

Or a woman soldier.

I thought about that, too. In a way, it makes the most sense. Her only "crime" would have been to enlist disguised as a man, and they really don't have any grounds to hold her in prison for very long.

 

[TerryB]

BBF, I was hoping it would be something simple like "Taps," but apparently no such luck. I play guitar (by ear), and I understand the Nashville numbers system so I'll try what you came up with to see if it makes any sense to me.