Into the unknown : the secret WWI diary of Kiwi Alick Trafford, no 25/469 / Ian Trafford.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. The journey beyond: Farewell -- Anzacs of Egypt. 2. Welcome to France: Bonjour France, hello Tommies -- Baptism of fire -- In the shadow of death -- Recuperation and a grand holiday -- Casualty. 3. Blighty, England: Cradled in safety -- Hornchurch Convalescent Camp -- The English winter -- The English spring. 4. The misery of Belgium: The mines at Messines -- Trenches and mansions -- Sadness and misery -- Marching towards Ypres -- Passchendaele, damned Passchendaele -- Infection. 5. England revisited: Hospital, convalescence and Christmas -- On leave -- Buggered about at camp -- The English girls -- Goodbye in case I die. 6. The Hundred Days Offensive: Chasing Fritz and the shifting front -- Dodging bullets and bombs -- Hurry up and stop -- The bodies of the sunken road -- Easy enough -- Guarding the hot salient -- The New Zealand liberation of Le Quesnoy -- Glorious peace and the aftermath. 7. Through Belgium to the Rhineland: For the love of Belgium -- Occupation of the Rhineland -- The train of torment. 8. England and home: England, will you help me? -- A colonel and love -- The voyage home. 9. The war after the war: Settling in -- A wonderful woman's support -- Battling the depression -- The war returns -- Better years. Jargon, slang, nicknames and historical terms -- The people in this book -- Acknowledgements -- Bibliography.

"A personal account of WWI from the diaries of a Gisborne farm boy, shaped into a ... narrative by the diarist's grandson 100 years later. Follow Alick as he moves from his last night on the farm in early 1916, through enshipment and training, then off to the battle fields of France and Belgium, occupied Germany and back home. His treasured diaries covered the tedium, the mud, the fear and sorrow, the discomfort, the periods of leave and the letters from those back home. See the war unfold through Alick's eyes and learn about his and his companions' attitudes to the army, to female company, to the enemy soldiers, to the hospitality provided by people under pressure, to the war itself. And after the drama and tragedy of war, comes the return home and the efforts required to make a living while remaining steadfastly silent about the traumas of those terrible years - an unseen fight that continued and affected generations to come"--Publisher information.