Traill, Sydney Robert (Lieutenant, b.1895 - d.1928)

Places
Accession Number 2DRL/0711
Collection type Private Record
Record type Collection
Measurement Extent: 2 cm; Wallet/s: 1
Object type Copy, Diary
Maker Traill, Sydney Robert
Place made France
Date made 1918
Access Open
Related File This file can be copied or viewed via the Memorial’s Reading Room. AWM93 12/11/5106
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Copying Provisions Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required.
Description

Collection relating to First World War Service of Lieutenant Sydney Robert Traill, 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, France, 1918.

Wallet 1 of 1 - Collection comprises of a diary kept in 1918 by Lieutenant Sydney Robert Traill, 1st Battalion Australian Imperial Force. The diary commencing on 1 January 1918 and ending on 31 December 1918 was written by Traill to create a “worthy heirloom showing the life of an ancestor during the world’s greatest war to future generations”. The diary describes Traill’s experiences of daily life, under fire, leave, the changing nature of warfare from wiring and trench-making through to semi-open warfare with tanks and aeroplanes. Although Lieutenant Sydney Traill had served from 1914 and had been wounded at Anzac and Pozieres, he recorded in his diary that 1918 was the most interesting year, noting extremes of conditions, the changing nature of warfare, the allied advances in the last months, and his observation of the impact on French civilians.