British Online Archives

[Derek Black]

Access via learning institutions with an account only, but if you do have access they have scans available online from personal diaries held by the IWM.

BritishOnlineArchives.co.uk

Officers' Diaries, August 1914 - October 1919 (21 diaries)

These diaries feature a concerted focus on the Battle of the Somme between November 1915 and November 1916 with accounts of action in Beaumont Hamel, Flers-Courcelette, the Fricourt sector, Ginchy, Les Boeufs, and Transloy Ridges. They also contain a secondary focus upon the fighting around the town of Ypres between 1915 and 1917, through accounts from the second and third battles of Ypres including the Ypres Salient and battle for the Messines Ridge. These records also incorporate two accounts of the battle of Loos dating from 1915, two accounts from the battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 and an account of fighting at Bethune.

Non-commissioned Officers' Diaries, September 1914 - November 1918 (4 diaries)

These Diaries provide Non-commissioned Officers' perspectives on some of the same battles described by the Officers' diaries in previous documents. The battles these accounts share with the Officers' include the Somme and some of the battles around Ypres. In the Ypres area NCOs joined Officers in recording details of the third battle of Ypres, including action at the Ypres Salient and the battle for Messines Ridge. Accounts of the Somme include an NCO's description of the battle of Flers-Courcelette, while other accounts of service contain an NCO's experience of service at Bethune. These diaries also contain accounts of fighting at Suvla Bay and in the Hallencourt area of France which provide an insight into the role of these officers within the army at this time.

Privates' Diaries, August 1914 - February 1919 (11 diaries)

These Privates' recollections provide both details of wars where their Officers have also provided accounts and forthright descriptions of events for which officers' diaries included here do not provide details. They add to the combination of voices included here which discuss the battles of Ypres and Ypres Salient with a particular focus on the third battle of Ypres. They also provide additional perspectives on the battle of Loos, the battle of Arras in general and in relation to Vimy Ridge, service at Bethune, and a number of descriptions of the Somme. The details which are less likely to be found in an Officer's diary include experiences of moving supplies to the battle front, a description of the journey from Canada to the Western Front, forthright opinions on poor organisation and conditions of the new armies, the percieved inequalities of army life, commentary regarding conscientious objectors, and details of the minutiae of trench living.

Others' Diaries, May - September 1916 (2 diaries)

These narratives are the voices of two people in non-combat roles and yet living through all of the violence of a war which others had chosen to fight. The first, Canon E. C. Crosse, served as a Church of England Chaplain at the Battle of the Somme; part of his diary from the Somme and a copy of his essay on the work and achievements of Army Chaplains are included here. The records relating to the Battle of Arras, included in other groupings within this collection, lend extra meaning to this English translation of the diary written by a French Civilian living in the nearby occupied village of St Ledger. This 55 year old civilian writes of bombardments by both sides, gas attacks, air raids, and the treatment of prisoners of war, lending a rather different voice to the growing account of events in the area of Arras during this period.

Prisoners of War's Diaries, August 1914 - January 1919 (18 diaries)

These reminiscences present a varied picture of the treatment recieved by eighteen Allied Prisoners of War once they were captured at various locations and became prisoners in places as varied as a camp in East Africa, another camp in Turkey and onboard a German ship. The fact that six of these prisoners were taken in battles described in other Officers', NCOs', and Privates' diaries enables the scholar to learn what happened to soldiers taken prisoner from the battles of Ypres and Ypres Salient, Loos, Béthune, and the Somme. A number of diaries describe events prior to the prisoners' capture and thereby also add to the range of voices describing each battle. There are three different accounts of being held at Rastatt which provide a broader understanding of that camp than of others, such as a labour camp in France for which there is only one account. Three of the prisoners were held in three or more camps in Germany and as such were able to give a more holistic overview of the treatment of prisoners of war. This grouping completes this collection, as these diaries illustrate what would have happened to many soldiers whose war concluded with their capture.