Shortly after the onset of the Great War Wilfrid Barley, aged 19 years, like many other young men, volunteered to ‘do his bit’ as a Private in the Worcestershire Regiment. Many years after his death a diary was discovered documenting his experiences as an ordinary ‘Tommy’. It covers the time from his enlistment to the day on the Somme, in 1917, when he almost lost his life. There were many narrow escapes on the way. It is a story of bravery, endurance, some humour and, above all, of an indomitable spirit, something that endured for the rest of his long life.