Skip to content

Draycott diaries are brought to life

Online project to commemorate centenary of First World War
Draycott
Minister of Veteran Affairs Julian Fantino greets North Vancouver actor Gordon Roberts, portraying First World War veteran Walter Draycott, a Lynn Valley pioneer whose wartime diaries are the focus of a new online project.

With Canadian First World War veterans no longer around to share their harrowing experiences of bloodshed and battle, all that remains is the written accounts of their memories.

That's why the North Vancouver Museum and Archives has launched an online project documenting and contextualizing the written firsthand account of Walter Draycott, 100 years after the First World War.

Draycott was an early settler of Lynn Valley and in 1914 he was thrust into combat on the Western Front as part of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

"NVMA staff has long been intrigued with Walter's life, the documents he left behind, and in particular, the tiny volumes that recorded his years as a soldier and military topographer," said Janet Turner, archivist, in a media release.

Draycott took meticulous notes and wrote extensive diary entries about what he saw and experienced while on the front lines of the Great War.

On his deathbed, at the age of 102, he left his entire lifetime's set of diaries - from 1907 to 1985- to the museum.

"The 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War this year provides a perfect opportunity to share these unique materials with Canadians and the world," Turner said. "Walter Draycott's personal records are significant because they provide an entry point into the momentous changes that were taking place at the time."

Each of Draycott's wartime diary entries will be posted 100 years from the day it was written. The online project was launched on Sept. 13.

The museum's website will feature audio, essays, photographs and other resources to help connect Draycott's words.

For instance, many significant entries will be read by North Vancouver actor Gordon Roberts, of the musical Billy Bishop Goes to War.

Photo albums will include personal portraits, battlefield drawings and images from his original handwritten diaries.

To view the online project, visit greatwarchronicle.ca.