OPCVL: War Diary - September 24 to 30

The War Diary – Extract from 78th Battalion was written by soldiers who were part of the 78th battalion. It was written during the time period of 24th to 30th of September 1918. The purpose of this document is to keep track of the events that happened before, during, and after battles, secret operations and officers who were injured and died from the battalion. Overall, its purpose was to provide intelligence summaries about the war (documents could be analysed) and it was a very common practice during the war.

This diary contains information about the place, date/time, a summary of events and information related to the 78th battalion and the initials of the soldiers who completed the information. The facts recorded refers to routines (such as inspections, training, tactical exercises), and play-by-play accounts of a specific battle as well as the number and names of officers wounded or killed during battles.

This source is quite valuable because it was written during the war from the line of fire by soldiers who experienced firsthand the battle and provides important information about the battle which may not otherwise be known. Also, it is much more accurate than other documents describing the event/ battle as it is first-hand information from the battlefield. In addition, this source is also valuable because its purpose was to inform, keep track and organise information about what happened, when it happened, where it happened, and provide first-hand accounts of events. This is helpful because it provides a relatively unbiased, summarized view of events that are easily understood.

One limitation of this source is the fact that the person who fills this in the information, may not know all of the data available, was misinformed by others or omit certain information that they considered unimportant which could have provided value for the person reading. Moreover, this document is limited in content as its purpose is to provide a summary, so oftentimes many details will be left out. This may prevent someone from getting a full picture/understanding of the events and actions that occurred.