author
Bernard C. Stubbs
d. 1915
A young World War I rifleman left behind a vivid diary that captures daily life at the front with unusual immediacy. His only known book survives as both a personal record and a moving testament to a life cut short in 1915.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born Bernard Castle Stubbs, he is remembered for Diary Kept by Rifleman B. C. Stubbs of the Second Draft Sent to the Queen Victoria Rifles in France, a firsthand account of service during the First World War. Library and catalog records identify him as Bernard Castle Stubbs and date his life to about 1891–1915.
Stubbs served with the Queen Victoria Rifles, and the diary follows his movements and observations in France in 1915. What makes the book stand out is its directness: it reads less like a polished memoir and more like a real-time record of soldiering, with small details, strain, and camaraderie all close to the surface.
The diary was published after his death, which gives it an added emotional weight. More than a military document, it offers readers a brief, human portrait of a young man whose writing preserved a personal view of the war he did not survive.