WW1 soldier diaries placed online by National Archives

[dipsydoodle]

Diaries from British soldiers describing life on the frontline during World War One are being published online by the National Archives.

Events from the outbreak of war in 1914 to the departure of troops from Flanders and France were recorded in official diaries of each military unit.

About 1.5 million diary pages are held by the National Archives and a fifth have been digitised so far.

The project is part of the government's World War One centenary programme.

Each unit in World War One was required to keep a diary of its day-to-day activities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25716569

[enlightenment]

1. I've been working on the transcription project for this,

Last edited Tue Jan 14, 2014, 09:13 PM - Edit history (1)

and all I've come across thus far are unit diaries. Fascinating stuff, but not "diaries from British soldiers describing life on the frontline", as the article states.

Fun project, though!

edited because I shouldn't post before editing . . . obviously, it is a fun project - not a fund project!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. I've got a whole tote full of letters from WWII

my step-grampa writing to his first wife.. she kept every single one from 1938 to 1950something (the whole time he was in the Navy)
Someday I'll get them transcribed....

[enlightenment]

3. An easy way to preserve them until they are transcribed is to

record them. Read them aloud. Keep the letters, of course. Depending on what type of paper they are and whether they are hand-written or typed, they will have different qualities, but you should open them flat and store them - together with the envelope - in an archival quality box.

My grandmother kept every letter my dad sent her throughout his military career - 1942 to 1973. They are a goldmine of information.