Introduction to the Web Edition

The focus of this site is a transcription of a diary kept in 1917 by my uncle, Walter Shuttleworth, who served and died on the Western Front during the Great War of 1914-18.

I first saw the diary in 1985 when it was given to me by my brother Walter. It had been passed to him by our cousin Cyril (now deceased) whose family had kept it safe all those years. I was so fascinated by the contents, e.g. his use of language, his wide range of interests and abilities, that I decided to make a transcription so that it would be available to a wider readership.

Three print editions, in very small numbers, were produced from 1985 to 1998. This latest web edition has been developed by my daughter Kathryn Lewis, to whom I offer my warmest thanks.

I hope the viewer finds something of interest in the following pages.

Alan Eades
October, 2000

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Walter Shuttleworth, born in Birmingham, England on 17 January 1898, enlisted at Worcester on 26 July 1916 into the 2/7 Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry and, as the diary records, was subsequently transferred to the 1/8 Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment.

The diary is for the year 1917, and opens with the soldier stationed in the south of England…