All,
I have been analyzing “Betty’s Notebook” looking for clues that might decipher some of the number combinations that she recorded.
I have assumed the following:
When we hear numbers we normally write them down as numbers e.g. 3 rather then the word three
We tend to hear the rhyme of the word, if it isn’t absolutely clear, and we write down the number e.g. hear the word sea but write down 3
Then when we read them back to ourselves they rarely make sense e.g. 36 could be the words sea sick
I use the following “rhyme” aid to come up with what may have been said – try this link
http://rhymezone.com/Some of my findings – TIGHAR’s pg. number under “Betty’s Notebook” followed by Betty’s pg. number – shown below:
Pg 49 (1) – W40K or WoJ Howland port – could be “weak Howland AIRport” referring to something AE heard from either Howland Island or the Itasca
Pg 53 (3) – 3EMJ38 – could be “we __ emergency”
Pg 57 (5) – 3Qrd36 – could be AE asking FN “are you sea sick Fred” - reverse the order of the rd and 36
Pg 57 (5) – 38-3 (heard as 38 dash 3) – could be “see freight crash ___ sea”
One final observation in Betty’s book are the numbers at the top of her second (Pg 51 (2)) page i.e. 58 and 338 could these be the revised “line of Position” 158-338 a difference of 180?
It will be neat to hear other possibilities from the members.
Ted Campbell