Grandad's Great War Diary

Corporal William James Dickson joined the British Army two years before the Great War began in 1914, and he took part in many of the decisive battles during the conflict. He kept a hand-written 'Diary of the War', which is a poignant account of his difficult life in the trenches on the Western Front. On his death he left the Diary to his grandson, Geoff, and in the year of the centenary of the outbreak of hostilities Geoff has decided to share his Grandad's experiences here. Geoff has also used regimental archives and publications to cross-reference some of the Diary entries and from this he has written useful explanatory notes. Corporal Dickson's Diary is a valuable addition to the first-person documentation of what was one of the most destructive periods in World history.