Bloodstained WWI Diary Found in Dump Inspires Book on Australian Soldier's Fate
In 1965, Alan Southall, then 12, discovered a pocket diary belonging to Corporal Claude Nuttall, an Australian soldier from World War I, while exploring in Stourbridge, England. This diary, containing entries from 1918, bore a bullet hole and blood stains. The final entry, dated August 10, 1918, described intense bombardment and referenced his wife, Violet Palfreyman. In 1996, Southall presented the diary to curator Colin Reid, which inspired Reid’s upcoming book, The Digger's Diary, set for publication this fall. Nuttall, born in 1895, enlisted in 1915, married Palfreyman in March 1918, and was killed on August 13, 1918. Reid honored Nuttall's memory in 2018, and the diary was returned to Nuttall's descendants. Palfreyman later remarried and passed away due to childbirth complications.
Key facts
- A 12-year-old boy named Alan Southall found the diary at a dump in Stourbridge, England, in 1965.
- The diary belonged to Corporal Claude Nuttall, an Australian soldier who served in World War I.
- The diary's last entry was dated August 10, 1918, and it showed signs of a bullet hole and bloodstains.
- Nuttall died on August 13, 1918, three days after his final diary entry.
- Colin Reid, a former curator at the Dudley Museum and Art Gallery, spent decades researching Nuttall's story.
- Reid's book, The Digger's Diary, will be published this fall.
- In 2018, Reid, Southall, and Nuttall's nephew Arthur Thomas visited Nuttall's grave in Harbonnieres, France, for the 100th anniversary of his death.
- The diary was returned to Nuttall's family at a ceremony in Cheltenham, Australia, in 2018.
Entities
Artists
- Claude Nuttall
- Violet Palfreyman
- Colin Reid
- Alan Southall
- Arthur Thomas
- George V
- Eric
Institutions
- Dudley Museum and Art Gallery
- Australian Army
- 23rd Battalion
- Smithsonian magazine
- BBC News
- Dudley News
- Holy Trinity Church
Locations
- Stourbridge
- England
- Australia
- Cheltenham
- Harbonnieres
- France
- Western Front
- West Midlands