When Quigly wrote this diary he was serving in the 12th R Scots, 27th Brigade 9th (Scottish) Division, and the first entry is for 20th June 1917 when he was on his way to Folkestone to embark for France. The final entry is 11th November 1917, Glasgow where he had ended up following a wound received on 12th October during the First Battle of Passchendaele.. The diary was published exactly as written, owes nothing to later inspiration, and remains as it was composed on the dates and at the places mentioned. There is some powerfully descriptive writing here, especially of the Passchendaele battlefield. In his view the Flanders offensive was a ghastly mistake, and we knew it.