Extracts from unit war diaries
This section of the Long, Long Trail will be helpful for anyone wishing to find out about the day to day activities of the army.
What is a war diary?
A war diary is one of the documents making up the operational record of a unit of the army. Units of infantry battalion / artillery brigade size were obliged to keep such a record once they were on active service overseas. They are the most detailed surviving contemporary record of the movements and activities of a unit.
Many of the diaries are handwritten, like this example.
More about war diaries
The war diaries on this site
There is no pattern to the diaries transcribed and presented on this site. They are snippets of interest that I have found while researching individual soldiers.
In the listings of units, those with extracts on site are marked with 
| Unit | Dates covered | Context |
| Artillery | ||
| 47 Brigade Royal Field Artillery |
20 May - 21 July 1915 | The Brigade's first weeks in France and operations at Ypres |
| 158 Brigade Royal Field Artillery |
April 1917 - May 1919 | Summary of diary covering whole war |
| 168 Brigade Royal Field Artillery |
1 May - 30 June 1916 | The build up to the attack on the Somme |
| 150 Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery |
9 - 27 April 1918 | The heavies in action in the Battle of the Lys |
| 118 Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery |
27 September - 1 October 1917 | In action at Zillebeke during Third Battle of Ypres |
| 283 Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery |
14 November 1916 onward | A complete history derived from battery and brigade diaries |
| Infantry | ||
| 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers |
9 September - 2 October 1914 | An officer's personal notes from the Battle of the Aisne |
| 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment |
25 June - 4 July 1916 | In action at Fricourt during the Battles of the Somme 1916 |
| 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards |
11 - 14 April 1918 | Not a war diary but a rare narrative carried by a soldier of the battalion in action during the Battles of the Lys |
| 2/4th Battalion Ox & Bucks Light Infantry |
18 - 23 August 1917 | In action at St Julien during Third Battle of Ypres |
| 10th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment |
10 - 13 April 1918 | In action at Merris during the Battles of the Lys |
| 13th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment |
5 March - 30 June 1916 | Familiarisation with trench warfare and first major attack |
| 15th Battalion Sherwood Foresters |
1 January 1917 - April 1919 | A battalion at war |
| 33rd Battalion London Regiment |
1 July - 15 October 1918 | A battalion at war |
| Incidents/articles | ||
| 2/2nd Battalion London Regiment |
21 March 1918 | The defence of Travecy Keep |
Notes for users
As with all sections of the Long, Long Trail, the war diary extracts are currently being reconfigured into the new site design. Please bear with me while this takes place.
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