Could you be related to First World War soldier Wilfred Adams? (From Dorset Echo)

Could you be related to First World War soldier Wilfred Adams?

2:32pm Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Looking Back

HISTORIANS are hoping to track down any surviving relatives of a First World War soldier whose diaries from the trenches have been unearthed.

Wilfrid Adams – who lodged in Poole – filled four books with notes on his time in France and Belgium, being used to test gas masks and the signing of Armistice Day.

Mr Adams, who was already a serving soldier at Salisbury when war broke out, is believed to have come from Weymouth and stayed at Lythdale in Vale Road, Upper Parkstone.

His fountain pen written diaries document everything from the deaths of friends to troop movements and becoming a sergeant to meeting his wife Edie in 1914.

Mr Adams, who served with the 4th Wiltshire Regiment and later the 58th (London) Division of the Royal Engineers, arrived in France on December 22, 1914. He saw many battles.

On Friday, December 8, he wrote: “Last time under shell fire. Rather exciting.”

Experts at Militaria Rarities Limited say Mr Adams has no known relatives but think he must have some living connections in the Dorset area.

Peter James, of Militaria Rarities, said: “We were so excited when we came across these diaries. They really are incredible first-hand accounts of life in the trenches. Some of the entries, which matter-of-factly record such devastating events as the deaths and injuries of entire troops, are fascinating to read.”

He added: “We'd love nothing better to find someone who believes they could be related to Wilfrid.

“We are sure they will find the diaries compulsive reading.”

Entries for 1915 - 1916 are missing and could still be undiscovered, he added.