Diary of Battle of the Somme
found in Leicestershire barn.
From This Ain’t Hell
A British soldier’s battered World War I diary recounting
the bloody Battle of the Somme has been discovered in a U.K. barn.
The diary, which was written in pencil by Private Arthur
Edward Diggens of the Royal Engineers, starts on Feb.13, 1916 and ends on Oct.
11 of that year. His diary entry for July 1, 1916, describes the first day of
the Battle of Somme.
“Something awful,” he wrote. “Never witnessed anything like
it before. After a bombardment of a week the Germans mounted their own trenches
and the infantry reckon that every German had a machine gun.”
Hansons Auctioneers in the U.K. will be auctioning the diary
on March 20.
Diggens’ diary was in a box found in a barn in
Leicestershire, which is in England’s Midlands region. Other unrelated military
items were also in the box, according to Hansons. “The owner had no idea who
any of the items related to but said his mother had been the recipient of old
family heirlooms,” said Hansons’ expert Adrian Stevenson, in a statement. “It’s
a complete mystery how this Somme diary ended up in the Midlands, particularly
as Arthur was born in London. I’m just relieved such an important piece of
military history has been found and can now be preserved.”
After its discovery in the barn, the diary was brought to a
Hansons valuation event. Stevenson said that, when he saw that the diary ended
abruptly on Oct. 11, 1916, he feared the worst for Diggens. “Because of this we
feared Arthur must have been a casualty of the conflict but my research proved
otherwise,” he explained. “Not only did he survive the First World War, he
returned to his loved ones in England and became a husband and father.”
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