Barrington Pollard's Diary

6th September 1914

We have arrived at Chepstow where we will be trained to use the guns and other survival things. I have a heavy gun that can only fire one shot at a time. It was hard work training, the one thing which slowed us down was the rain. It was hammering down. We are only having a short training session, as we are needed as soon as possible. None of us liked our instructor he was mean. One Soldier dared mumble at him and the sergeant major sent him away, we have not seen him since.

I really miss my family even though I have only been gone a day. Tomorrow at 0800 hours we will be travelling to Portsmouth where we will be shipped to France.

I sent a letter to my family but I do not think I will get a message back as I will be on my way to France.

I will update this diary when I am in France

8th September 1914

I am now in France and it is a glorious day the sun is shining and there is no wind. There is a small abandoned village near here where another British regiment is camping until they get called to go to fight.

The journey on the way here was not too bad but the worst part was on the naval ship it was so cramped.

We are on the beach in France, I do not know the exact place because we were not listening, but what I do know is tomorrow we will be marching to the front line. Everyone sighed when we heard the dreaded word march. The beach is better than ours I would love to live here with my family it would be nice. On the way here Arthur and I had a conversation about the war. We were saying that the Germans are just like us, they are only doing their job. Arthur said our two leaders should just have a fight, which would save a lot of time and lives; people at home are even making money by betting on who will win.

9th September 1914

It is still sunny and a large convoy of lorries and trucks has picked us up. Arthur and I are in the third truck from the front and there are two behind us. At the very back is a truck with all out bags in. The truck has broken down twice already but it does not take long for it to catch up. My friend Richard Taylor is in the truck with two other people. He is a mechanic which is why he is in there. At this moment while I am writing this we have stopped for a rest. I will update this when I get to the trenches.

20th September 1914

We have arrived at the trenches and it is better than I thought it would be. There are no guns firing and we can see the German soldiers clearly and no ones shooting. I presume they can see us but they never look over. The only time we can fire is when we are told to by our commander who is in the truck that keeps braking down. There has been a message passed around that we are joining another regiment at 1300 hours tomorrow. We will definitely be fighting then.

The trench that I am in with Arthur an around 10 foot deep and 3 foot wide. It is very long, I have not taken a look around yet as I have only just got here. I would love to write more but the rest are going to look and I do not want to be here alone.

21st September 1914

This diary is being finished by R M Taylor. Barrington Pollard sadly died in the truck on the way to join another British regiment. The truck, which was carrying forty-eight people included Barrington. There were six trucks in convoy and they all got bombed, except for the one which I was in. The reason that I did not get bombed was that our truck had broken down again. When we went through the kit bags I noticed Barrington's diary so I have taken the liberty of completing it.

I knew Barrington for fifteen years. He was a good man. When we were at home he liked to go down the local pub all the time. There is so much I would like to say but time and our situation does not allow for this.

He had a wonderful family, but sadly I am the one who will have to break the news to them.

The time and date of his death was 1304 hours 20th September 1914.