Jesse Butcher鈥檚 diary gives some indications that something big was coming on April 9, 1917.

鈥淏ombardment all afternoon,鈥� he wrote on April 4. 鈥淎wful! 21 aeroplanes up in the evening.鈥�

The intensity of bombardments and air patrols is interspersed in the diary by records of long treks that left his feet raw, and of the April 8, Easter Sunday service, the day before the battle began.

Butcher was in the thick of the action for several years, all without ever firing a shot.

He was an Anglican seminary student in Regina when the war broke out. While he wanted to enlist, he refused to fight, so he joined as a stretcher bearer. Given rudimentary training in first aid, he was sent to the front.

The diaries are the property of his descendants, including his great-grandniece, Doreen Annala of 91原创.

鈥淗is diaries are like 15 days of boredom, and then three days of horror,鈥� she said.

He recorded picking up wounded, as well as the dead after battles.

The diaries are a link to a part of his life he never spoke about.

鈥淚 still remember him and his wife,鈥� said Annala.

Butcher lost his brother Frank in 1916, in the Battle of the Somme, and his grave was never found. In 1919, Jesse would create a grave for Frank, burying a bottle with his name inside, and saying the burial service over it.

After the fighting was over, he returned to Canada, and resumed his seminary studies. He became an Anglican minister and later, a canon.

He never spoke of the war to his family, Annala said.

The diaries, written in a neat but old-fashioned form of handwriting, were difficult for his descendants to interpret. Annala, who went back to school in her 50s to work with medical records, managed to read them and typed them out.

鈥淲hen you can read doctor鈥檚 writing, you can read anything,鈥� she said.

Butcher鈥檚 diary records the beginning of the battle from the point of view of one of the men tasked with aiding the wounded.

鈥淐anadian troops went 鈥榦ver the top鈥� at 5:30 this morning,鈥� he wrote on April 9. 鈥淲ounded began to pour in about 10 a.m.鈥�

There were about 1,400 cases that day, and Butcher helped guide a field ambulance to the area. He noted the awful nature of the injuries 鈥� men blinded, noses and eyes destroyed, legs, feet, and arms lost, numerous chest wounds.

鈥溾�橳was an awful sight to see our wounded men lying in fields & on roads awaiting clearance by motor ambulance,鈥� he wrote.

鈥淢en very brave & overjoyed with victory,鈥� he added.

The diaries are less a piece of family history, said Annala, and more a record of one particular man鈥檚 reaction to what was then called the war to end all wars.

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