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These diaries were found when looking for souvenirs of 1914 - 1918 for an exhibition at Scarborough Sixth Form College as background to a production of "Oh, What a Lovely War !" in December 1980. Unfortunately, this was too late to confirm background facts in many cases, and the memory of my mother at the age of 90 can hardly be relied on. There is apparently no diary of J.A.W.'s service when commissioned, which I find puzzling, as it must have been easier to keep one. My thanks are due to Arthur Banks for permission to use maps from his 'Military Atlas of the First World War' and particularly to Lyn Macdonald for her generous permission to 'use anything in my books that would be of use', to Geoff and Jean Mountfield for the trip to France in February 1993 which opened my eyes to the possibility of tracing my father's footsteps, to my son, Philip, for his helpfulness on a second trip in August 1993, where his insistence in pursuing clues was invaluable, and to him and Arthur Newbould who actually produced this book. It has given us all particular pleasure to complete this diary, which has been developing over several years, in time for the 100th anniversary of J.A.W.'s birth. R.A. Watson Scarborough, 28th April 1994 |