WIREDGOV

Today The National Archives is making a third batch of 724 digitised First World War unit war diaries from France and Flanders available online via its First World War 100 portal 

The unit war diaries provide interesting accounts of battles and events, as well as insights into the daily routines of British troops on the Western Front. This third tranche (WO 95/2432 - WO 95/3154) contains the diaries from the Kitchener Divisions and those of the Territorial Force (later The Territorial Army).

Amongst this batch are the unit war diaries for the 36th (Ulster) Division, which had many casualties on 1 July 1916, and the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, which was the last division to leave the UK for France in March 1917.

Also included in the diaries are accounts of troops' sports activities (WO 95/2524) which helped keep them motivated and continue fighting until the end of the war.

William Spencer, author and principal military records specialist at The National Archives, said: 'Now that this latest batch of unit war diaries is online, people all around the world can read the official army accounts to discover more about the troops on the Western Front. The diaries note successful battles, such as 46th Division breaking the Hindenburg Line, as well as failures and casualties in key battles such as those on the Somme in 1916. They also provide rare insights into how the troops maintained the environment in the trenches as well as the sports days which helped to keep them motivated.'

Highlights from the third batch unit war diaries include:

• a sports day programme dated 31 October 1917, which notes pillow fighting, wheelbarrow races and wrestling on mules (WO 95/2524)
• sketch of a 'snapshot' view from the front (which notes 'dead animals' and even a 'dead Frenchman') (WO 95/2970/3)
• two photos giving a 'how to' and 'how not to' guide to laying trench boards (WO 95/2670)
• three photos of battalion officers from 7th Battalion Black Watch Fife (one of these photos is shown above) (WO 95/2879)

Join Operation War Diary

As part of the digitisation of the Unit War Diaries and to engage people in the centenary, The National Archives is working with Imperial War Museums (IWM) and Zooniverse on Operation War Diary. Launched at the beginning of 2014, this innovative crowdsourcing history project enables the public to get involved in capturing information, tagging names, places and activities, from The National Archives' unit war diaries.

Go straight to the website to take part in Operation War Diary now.

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