This is the diary of Roy Trevethin Marris, 2nd Lieutenant Royal Engineers, 1914-1918. Roy was married to Elisabeth and had three children Jean, Patricia and Josanne, who is my mother. What follows is his diary of his experiences in the trenches near Ypres during World War 1. The individual pages are in order below, the body of the diary is also available as a PDF here, re-typed by my father Barrie.
The images below include a hand drawn front page by one of his colleagues, a map of the area in which the diary is set, a timeline of events, a photo of Roy, and some contemporary photos of where the events took place.
Further notes from Roy’s daughter Josanne:
My Dad joined up at the outbreak of the 1st WW, leaving the Royal Engineers at the end of it. He wrote the diary during a few months of the autumn of 1915 in the field either in a tent or wherever he was billeted. I think he must have typed it up when he returned home from the trenches. I have the original diary now tucked safely away, I mean the typed up one not the (presumed) hand written one. The beautiful drawing of the ruins of Ypres (near where he was stationed) was done by his batman I believe. The diary was beautifully written, my father had a talent tor that. In it he expressed his feelings and sadness about what was going on around him and the war in general.
If you can enlarge the pages of it I believe it is worth reading, it is as vivid and as moving now as it was 102 years ago.
Bill Hodgson 