Publisher's Synopsis
Wilfred Robinson Whitfield was born near Middlesbrough in 1896, and trained as an engineering draughtsman. When war broke out he tried to enlist several times, but failed due to his lack of height, before in early 1915 the manpower shortage became so acute that he was allowed to. He joined up as a signaller in the Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) in early 1915. In these diaries Wilf records the life of a soldier in the trenches. He describes the Battle of the Somme on September 15th 1916, when he witnessed the introduction of the first battlefield tank. He goes on to describe how he was wounded in November 1916, had his arm amputated in a field hospital, and was sent home. The second part of these diaries recounts how difficult life was for him as a disabled ex-serviceman. It took him years to re-establish himself in work and his descriptions of the hurdles he faced are sobering today. He remained fiercely committed to improving the lot of disabled ex-servicemen and disabled people generally, becoming an active and early member of BLESMA. He also describes the social side of life in Middlesbrough between the Wars as well as his work, particularly his trade unionism. When the Second World War broke out he joined the Home Guard. For the rest of his life he continued to campaign and to write. He died of lung cancer in 1958.
