Sketch of a little Big History of private E.E. Benjamin and the Great War

In 1980, while helping my grandfather Eric Esmond Benjamin move from his home in Queensland, Australia, into the home of his oldest son Keith, I discovered in a drawer under a bed in his guest room a plastic bag containing five old battered and stained diaries, collectively dated from March 7th, 1917 to January 14th, 1920. When I showed these to Eric, he told me he had almost forgotten about them, but they were indeed a personal record of his experiences as a soldier in the First World War, and of living and working in Britain in the 12 months that followed its conclusion in November 1918.