Diary Kept by Rifleman B. C. Stubbs of the Second Draft Sent to the Queen Victoria Rifles in France

In Short

This intimate war diary records the final months of Bernard C. Stubbs, a young Englishman who leaves his office job to join the Queen Victoria Rifles on the Western Front in early 1915. Moving from Southampton across the Channel to the mud, freezing trenches, and heavy bombardments of Belgium, Stubbs details the daily grind of survival, fatigue, and intense combat around Ypres and Hill 60. Grounded in quiet observation rather than heroics, the record endures as a poignant, unembellished monument to an ordinary soldier's endurance and ultimate sacrifice.

The Story

The record begins in February 1915, when Bernard C. Stubbs is abruptly called back from leave to join a draft bound for France. After enduring delays in Southampton filled with drills, haircuts, and brief trips to the local cinema, he boards a crowded cargo boat alongside horses and crosses a channel guarded by searchlights and destroyers. Arriving in France, the draft travels up the Seine to Rouen, where Stubbs experiences the frustrating monotony of military waiting—marred by lack of water, missing orders, and the petty trials of improvised camp life—before finally heading by train to Bailleul near the Belgian frontier.

Once at the front, Stubbs is thrust directly into the realities of trench warfare opposite the Messines Ridge. He encounters the bitter cold, relentless snipers, and his first taste of shell fire, which briefly brings a paralyzing wave of funk before he steels his nerves. Between spells in the firing and support trenches, the men march back to battered French and Belgian towns like Bailleul and Ypres for brief, chaotic periods of rest. These interludes offer hot baths, clean linen, local cinema visits, and letters from home, yet they are constantly interrupted by brutal labor details, road-repairing in the mud, and exhausting night fatigues under fire.

As spring deepens, the tactical situation around Ypres deteriorates rapidly. Stubbs and his shrinking battalion endure massive German artillery bombardments, poison gas attacks, and desperate counter-offensives. April brings fierce engagements where the battalion’s strength is decimated, reducing their numbers from a normal complement of a thousand to just a fraction. Despite toothache that plagues him for days—eventually remedied by a visit to a dentist in Poperinghe—and the rising terror of shellitis, Stubbs maintains a steady resilience, returning repeatedly to the firing line.

In May and June, the grueling cycle continues with stints at St. Eloi and Hill 60, where carrying ammunition through heavy machine-gun fire becomes a nightly trial. The diary ends abruptly in June 1915. Appended letters from his quartermaster and platoon officer complete the narrative arc, revealing that on June 22 a German shell struck his trench, inflicting a severe head wound from which he never regained consciousness, dying the following day at a hospital in Bailleul at the age of twenty-four.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Stubbs leaves England after hasty preparations, crossing a channel crowded with destroyers and enduring a rough, cramped passage on a cargo boat alongside horses. The journey sets a tone of unpredictable waiting and physical discomfort that defines his introduction to war.

Arrival in France After traveling up the Seine, he reaches Rouen and experiences the tedious delays, medical inspections, and mud-shifting that characterize early military routine behind the lines. He welcomes simple comforts like hot coffee and a brief march through the rain.

First taste of the line Moving up to Bailleul by train, he enters the firing trenches near Messines Ridge, where snipers, freezing wet nights, and his initial exposure to shell fire test his composure. A bursting shell brings his first real feeling of funk before he pulls himself together.

The ruins of Ypres Transferred near Ypres, he navigates a devastated landscape of shattered historical buildings, daily shelling, and the constant menace of enemy aircraft and gas. The town serves as a grim staging ground for hazardous tours in the front line.

The crucible of April The battalion faces massive enemy bombardments, poison gas, and desperate counter-attacks that decimate their numbers from a thousand men to a fraction. Stubbs endures severe toothache, relentless fatigue, and terrifying shellfire while holding reserve and support positions.

The final weeks Intermittent rests in Locre and grueling stints of carrying ammunition and repairing parapets at Hill 60 and St. Eloi fill his final weeks. The narrative closes with official letters detailing the fatal shell burst that ends his service.

The People

The central figures of the book are ordinary British soldiers and officers navigating an unprecedented industrial conflict, viewed through the observant lens of Rifleman B. C. Stubbs. Stubbs himself wants to do his duty, stay useful, and maintain his personal cleanliness and morale amidst filth, yet he struggles against chronic toothache, physical exhaustion, and the terrifying psychological weight of shellfire. His comrades, such as Williams and various unnamed platoon mates, share the burden of watch duty, fatigue details, and narrow escapes from sniper fire, often facing wounds or death side by side with him. Junior officers like Lieutenant P. S. Houghton and quartermasters manage the remnants of the depleted battalion, offering steady leadership and later communicating the tragic news back home. Finally, figures like Mrs. Stubbs, his mother, remain in the background as the recipients of letters and official telegrams, representing the distant home front that bears the ultimate emotional cost. Through these interactions, the text avoids grand caricatures, presenting individuals who simply endure harsh conditions, look out for one another, and cope with fear through quiet resilience, humor, and camaraderie until the fortunes of war run out for many of them.

In Its Own Voice

Reflecting on the psychological strain of his first close encounter with heavy artillery, Stubbs notes his internal reaction:

A shell burst on parapet just in front of me and gave me a bad shaking.

Describing the stark reality of trench life and the elusive nature of military downtime, he observes:

We come from trenches for what is called a “rest.” I should like to know what the Army Authorities call “work.”

Writing about the devastating toll on his unit after a fierce series of engagements near Ypres, he records:

Trench strength of Battalion is now 230 rifles which will show what we have been through (normal strength about 1000).

What It's Really About

The diary explores the quiet degradation of daily war and the psychological endurance required of ordinary citizens turned soldiers. Rather than focusing on grand geopolitical strategies or sweeping triumphs, it investigates how human beings adapt to industrialized slaughter, filth, and perpetual exhaustion. Stubbs examines the jarring juxtaposition between moments of domestic normality—such as reading letters from home, enjoying a hot bath, or going to a local cinema—and the terrifying chaos of front-line bombardments. Ultimately, the text addresses the cost of sacrifice, the fragility of the human body against modern weaponry, and the silent courage of men who perform grueling labor and face annihilation without romantic pretense.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate authentic, firsthand historical accounts and understated prose will find this diary deeply moving. Unlike polished memoirs written long after the fact, these daily entries capture immediate impressions without hindsight or retrospective romanticism, offering a visceral sense of what it felt like to inhabit the mud and terror of Flanders in 1915. Modern readers should be prepared for the sparse, matter-of-fact tone, which records horrific losses alongside mundane complaints about toothache and lack of water with the exact same deadpan rhythm. This unvarnished style requires patience, as the repetition of fatigues, marches, and billets mirrors the numbing monotony of trench existence. Yet it is precisely this lack of literary artifice that makes the book so powerful. The final, heartbreaking transition from Stubbs's own voice to the formal letters of his commanding officers stays with you long after finishing, serving as an intimate, haunting reminder of the young lives swallowed up by the First World War.