The mystery of a blood-stained, bullet-pierced World War One diary found on a rubbish tip in 1965 has finally been solved. The diary, discovered among household waste by 12-year-old Alan Southall in 1965 in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, ominously had a final entry dated 10 August 1918 but little was known about the Australian soldier who wrote it.
Finally, 108 years after it was written, historian Colin Reid has pieced together the inspiring life of author Corporal Claude Nuttall, who was once awarded the Military Medal by King George V for a daring rescue in No Man’s Land. But the diary also reveals the tragedy of war as the Battle of the Somme survivor, who wed his English sweetheart Violet in Worcestershire, died on 13th August 1918 — three days after the last entry.
The discovery of a soldier’s life
Cpl Nuttall was born in 1895 and attended Cheltenham State School in Melbourne. In 1915, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces a few days after his twentieth birthday and was assigned to the 23rd Battalion. He embarked for Egypt on 27th September to reinforce his battalion that was fighting the Turks at Gallipoli. He later joined the 23rd at Tel-El-Kebir, Egypt, in January of 1916 and left for Marseilles in March 1916.
Related Post: Dream home found in South France village
By 10 April 1916, the battalion was occupying trenches in northern France. In the battles of Pozieres — part of the disastrous Somme campaign — the unit lost almost 90 per cent of its soldiers. It was in August of 1916, aged 21, that he was awarded the Military Medal personally by King George V. He and three pals volunteered to rescue two wounded soldiers who had fallen in No Man’s Land at 4am.
Claude kept a small green-covered book for daily notes beginning 1 January 1918, recording lectures, parades, breakfasts of chips and bacon, a cathedral visit, billiards and cinema outings. After a period of service in Britain he wed 18-year-old local Violet Palfreyman on 25 March 1918 in a modest church at Wordsley. Their marriage lasted just over a month before orders sent him back to his French battalion, and the two never met again.
Last days and the final entry
The diary frequently mentions correspondence arriving from Australia and letters Claude sent to his wife. He notes an incident when a German shell landed merely two feet from his position without injuring him. He also recorded the day General Monash of Australia arrived with two French generals to inspect captured German artillery, and the visit of some American troops who came to learn from the British forces.
Read Also: Liverpool Street Station upgrade completed
In the final entries he described the miserable state of the dugout, writing: “Stood to all night. Rained like the devil all the time. Our dugout got very wet. About 8 p.m. Fritz opened up a bombardment and dropped a shell into our trench wounding two and filled our dugout with mud and dirt. Letter from Vi.”
The last dated note, penned on 10 August 1918, listed recent gains: “Heavy bombardment by our guns. Push still in progress. Started letter to Vi. 11 ¼ inch gun captured by 31st Btn and train came back from forward. Packed up ready to move forward again. Prisoners still coming back. Wrote to Violet.”
The subsequent pages remained blank. Three days later, during the Battle of Amiens, a sniper’s bullet struck Nuttall as he charged a German machine-gun position, ending his life on 13 August 1918. It is feared the blood stains and the bullet hole in the diary occurred when he was shot dead on 13 August 1918, only three months before an armistice was finally declared and fighting ceased.
Read Also: Early Release Scheme Fuels Abuse Survivors’ Suicide Fears
The discovery and the book
Colin Reid is the historian who pieced this narrative together. He managed the former Dudley Museum and Art Gallery 30 years ago. The diary was given to him for a Great War exhibition. This gift set him on a lifelong mission to find out what happened to Claude. He traces the soldier’s journey from Dudley to the battlefields of France. He eventually uncovered the details in Claude’s hometown of Melbourne.
The diary’s journey home
It is thought when Violet died his diary may have accidentally been thrown out along with other family possessions and ended up on the rubbish tip to be found by chance by Alan. Colin’s research has now been brought together in a new book, that will be launched at Stourbridge Library on 15 October, as part of Dudley History Festival. The diary is now with Claude’s family in Australia. The Digger’s Diary will also be launched at the ANZAC Memorial in Sydney during Remembrance Week.