Edward Sigrist was 27 when he was called to the front line in France.
The diary he kept for almost two years was written on scrap toilet paper in an obsolete form of shorthand.
It is a vivid record of the dangers and discomfort of life behind the front line, as well as the occasional delights.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
“He got forwarded by a sergeant who took a shine to him, to be an officer's servant. He only lasted for about a week or ten days, but he said it was the best time", says his son, Gary.
“He said 'I only had to do his egg and make his bed and bully up his shoes, and things like that, and the rest of the time was mine'”
It is not known how Edward Sigrist came to know shorthand.
“He could've been self-taught – that's the type of bloke he was… I wouldn't be at all surprised if he'd learnt it himself,” says his other son, John.
The diary describes days of tedium and terror: “I saw the reflection of a night bombardment… the flashes from the guns lit up the sky vividly… the noise was terrific.”
The shorthand Sigrist used, Pitman shorthand, was superseded in 1922, and Sigrist didn't make it easy to read.
“Generally you'd always write shorthand with lined paper, but this doesn't have any lines at all – well it wouldn't, if it was toilet paper,” says transcriber Pamela Dunmore.
