A scrap of newspaper carrying a memorial poem, a bullet hole and a death notice have helped researcher Colin Reid unravel the story behind Australian World War I soldier Claude Nuttall’s diary, found on a rubbish tip in England decades ago.
Reid was curator of Dudley Museum in 1996 when a local man, Alan Southall, brought in a pocket diary he had found as a boy on a rubbish tip. Reid initially thought it did not suit the museum’s exhibition because the author, Nuttall, was Australian, but he learned Nuttall’s wife, Violet, was from a town in the region. The diary went on display and the love story captured the public’s imagination.
Nuttall, 23, was killed in action in 1918 on a Somme Valley battlefield. His diary entries ended abruptly in August 1918; the diary was pierced by a bullet and had blood on it. Reid said there were moments of serendipity that kept his decade-long research going whenever he hit a dead end. After the museum exhibition, Reid gave the diary back and later struggled to find Southall again, eventually tracing his address after his wife persisted with one more street and found someone who knew him.
Reid discovered Nuttall had been awarded the Military Medal by King George V in 1916 for risking his life to rescue two wounded men near Armentières. The newspaper fragment that fluttered out of the diary was a memorial notice published in The Age on February 12, 1918, commemorating the death of 15-year-old Lucy Battle. Reid found no evidence Nuttall knew Lucy, but in May 1918 Nuttall wrote that his mother had sent him the newspaper. Reid’s theory is that the poem’s sentiment struck a chord with Nuttall, who had spent two years under fire watching mates die and had been shot in the thigh. “He’s thinking, ‘I might not survive this. I just want to be remembered in some way’,” Reid said.
Reid has now written a book, The Digger’s Diary, to be launched at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance on November 12. In 2018 he arranged for an Anglican priest to hand the diary to Nuttall’s family at a church Nuttall once attended. Nuttall’s nephew Arthur Thomas, now 85, said: “It was very emotional.” Thomas said the diary has “no intrinsic value, it’s priceless to a lot of people now”. He wants it to eventually go to either the Australian War Memorial or Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The story recovers the life and sacrifice of an ordinary soldier, showing how personal artifacts can keep memory alive across generations
- Demonstrates the power of persistent historical research and community connections in solving old mysteries
- Reinforces the importance of preserving wartime diaries and letters before they are lost
Background
Claude Nuttall was an Australian soldier from Cheltenham, Melbourne, who served in World War I and was killed in action in 1918 at age 23. His pocket diary was found by Alan Southall as a boy on a rubbish tip in the West Midlands, England, in 1965. It lay largely untouched until curator Colin Reid displayed it at Dudley Museum in 1996. The diary contains a bullet hole and bloodstains. Reid spent a decade researching Nuttall’s story, culminating in the book The Digger’s Diary.
Key Perspectives
Colin Reid: The researcher describes feeling “fated” to tell Nuttall’s story. At one point he wrote to 28 people with the surname Nuttall in Victoria; a woman unrelated to Claude responded and helped place a newspaper notice seeking relatives.
Arthur Thomas: Nuttall’s nephew says the diary is “priceless to a lot of people now” and hopes it will be housed at the Australian War Memorial or the Shrine of Remembrance.
What to Watch
- The launch of The Digger’s Diary at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance on November 12
- Where Nuttall’s diary will eventually be deposited: the Australian War Memorial or the Shrine of Remembrance
- Whether further relatives or descendants come forward after the book’s publication
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedA bullet hole and a death notice helped unravel a World War I diary mystery.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “How a bullet hole and a death notice helped unravel a WWI diary mystery.”
- SupportedA diary found on a rubbish tip led Colin Reid on a decade-long quest to tell the story of Australian soldier Claude Nuttall.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Reid said there were some amazing moments of serendipity that kept his decade-long research going whenever he hit a dead end.”
- SupportedA newspaper fragment carrying a memorial poem, together with the bullet hole and death notice, helped Reid unravel the diary’s story.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “A mysterious piece of paper fluttered out of an Australian World War I soldier’s war diary. It was a newspaper classifieds notice, containing a poem”
- SupportedReid said Nuttall may have wanted to be remembered because he feared he might not survive.Brisbane Times - Latest News: ““He’s thinking, ‘I might not survive this. I just want to be remembered in some way’,” Reid says.”
- SupportedNuttall’s nephew Arthur Thomas said the diary’s return was very emotional.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Nuttall’s nephew Arthur Thomas, now 85, said: “It was very emotional.””
- SupportedThomas said the diary had no intrinsic value but was priceless to many people.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Thomas says while the diary has “no intrinsic value, it’s priceless to a lot of people now”.”
- SupportedNuttall was 23 when he was killed in action in 1918 on a Somme Valley battlefield.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Nuttall, 23, was killed in action in 1918 on a Somme Valley battlefield, in northern France.”
- SupportedNuttall’s diary entries ended abruptly in August 1918, and the diary had a bullet hole and blood on it.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Nuttall’s diary entries ended abruptly in August 1918, with no explanation. But the diary was pierced by a bullet and had blood on it.”
- SupportedReid was Dudley Museum’s curator in 1996 when Alan Southall brought in the diary he had found as a boy on a rubbish tip.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “In 1996, Reid was curator and manager of Dudley Museum ... A local man, Alan Southall, showed Reid a WWI pocket diary that he had found as a boy on a rubbish tip.”
- Partly supportedReid gave the diary back after the exhibition closed.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “After the initial WWI exhibition closed, Nuttall gave the diary back, realising years later when he went to relook at it, that its owner, Southall, had moved house.”
- SupportedNuttall received the Military Medal from King George V in 1916 for risking his life to rescue two wounded men near Armentières.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Reid found that in 1916, King George V had presented Nuttall with the Military Medal for risking his life to help rescue two wounded men close to enemy lines near Armentières”
- SupportedThe newspaper fragment was a memorial notice published in The Age on February 12, 1918, commemorating 15-year-old Lucy Battle.Brisbane Times - Latest News: “Reid eventually discovered that the newspaper fragment that had dropped out of the diary was a memorial notice published in The Age , on February 12, 1918.”
