A World War One soldier's bloodstained and bullet-holed diary, discovered by a young boy rummaging for toys, has revealed a heartbreaking century-old love story. The more than 100-year-old memoir of Corporal Claude Nuttall was uncovered by chance in 1965. Closer inspection by the boy's family revealed the diary had belonged to the late Corporal, who was killed in the war just a few months before Armistice Day in 1918.
Diary found in rubbish tip
Cpl Nuttall documented his harrowing experiences on the frontlines and the relationship with his young wife, whom he was forced to leave behind when he went off to war. The diary revealed that Cpl Nuttall was an Australian infantryman who saw intense action during the Great War, as evidenced by damage on the bloodstained document and a bullet hole in its top right corner. The damage is believed to have resulted from a wound sustained by the late soldier which left him hospitalised in the UK.
According to its entries, he nursed his wounds at Wordsley Hospital in Stourbridge, Worcestershire in 1916, where he met and fell in love with Violet Palfreyman. The pair were married two years later in March 1918 and had just five weeks together before the trooper was sent back to fight on the frontlines in France.
Killed at the Battle of Amiens
He was sadly killed five months after he tied the knot by a sniper while fighting at the Battle of Amiens. The pivotal battle was the opening of the allied offensive, with Cpl Nuttall serving alongside up to 100,000 soldiers as France, Britain, the US, Australia and Canada tried to push the German Second Army back from the Somme. The Corporal was one of approximately 10,000 allied soldiers who died during the battle, which would ultimately mark the beginning of the end of World War One.
His diary documenting his love and wartime duties eventually found its way into the hands of Colin Read, an author who has written a book about Cpl Nuttall. Colin, 69, spent years tracking down Claude's family to fill in the gaps and potentially solve the mystery of how the diary was almost lost forever. He said: "The diary was found by a 12-year-old boy as he was rummaging around in this rubbish tip for some toys. His dad read it and explained it belonged to an Australian soldier. He was wounded in the Somme, sent to Stourbridge to recover and married a lady called Violet. The diary ended on the 10th of August 1918 during the battle of Amiens, an intense battle towards the end of the war. There was a bullet hole and it was blood stained and it didn't look good for the guy."
Final entries and legacy
In Claude's final entry he details exhausting combat and apparent progress just days before his death. He writes: "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." In another entry written on their wedding day, he wrote: "All excited. Went to Stourbridge met Maurine. Married 12.30pm, all went well. Photos taken 1.15pm. Wedding breakfast 3pm. All having very good time."
In another entry he writes about King George V presenting him with the military medal for rescuing fallen comrades in No Man's Land in 1916. Military records show Cpl Nuttall enlisted in the Australian Army after his 20th birthday in 1915. He was initially deployed to Egypt with the 23rd Battalion but heavy losses on the Western Front saw him sent to France.
His diary was uncovered by then 12-year-old Alan Southall in a rubbish tip near his home in 1965 - 47 years after his death. It had been kept safe by Violet's son and husband in the years after her death. Colin, who has now written a book about the diary, added: "Right from the very first moment that I held the diary, I had that real sense of connection with it. I was really hooked. I reached out to try and find Violet's family and then someone came forward and showed me the photographs. I was able to put together most of the story, he'd been killed in action three days after his last entry. He'd been decorated by the King in person for saving comrades in front of German trenches. He was wounded at the end of the Somme."
Claude was one of around 8,000 Australian soldiers who married English women while deployed in the war. Colin added: "Violet had married again five or six years later, emigrated to New Zealand, came back and died of complications during childbirth. Twinged by my conscience, I decided to write the book. I had to find the diary again and track down Alan and I had to trace Claude's family. I put adverts out in local papers and slowly but surely I started getting some responses. Claude Nuttall is now commemorated on the Somme by the local people of the village every year." Colin's book, The Digger's Diary, will be launched at Stourbridge Library on October 15 at the Dudley History Festival.
