Harrowing diaries of World War One soldier from Yorkshire reveal 'death and destruction' of war

The cotton armband, which is still splashed with blood and dirt, was worn by Private Frank Pye, who was born in Royston, near Barnsley. He was a stretcher bearer for the 1/1 East Lancashire Field Ambulance tasked with retrieving dead and injured soldiers on the front line.

His armband, along with three pocket notebooks detailing the horrors of trench warfare, are going under the hammer.

In one diary entry he said: "I saw a lot of small balloons going over the German lines. I enquired what they were and was told they were containing messages and photos of Germans lying dead and starving."

It goes on to say: "Each day was very quiet and everything going on alright all and all merry and bright until the 27th when two of my commanders were killed whilst bandaging another comrade up who had been hit in the head. The names of the two killed was Hastley and Rathbone and the others wounded Walton."

Pte Pye was born in 1882 and enlisted as part of the Territorial Force on April 7, 1913, aged 31. He was deployed to Egypt on September 28, 1914, where he initially worked as an army cook. He later served as a stretcher bearer on the Western Front in Europe.

His diaries reveal harrowing details about fighting German soldiers and airmen in Belgium. On one occasion he narrowly escaping death after the Germans dropped mustard gas shells on their position.

On September 5, 1917, he wrote: "In the early hours of the morning our guns started a starvation barrage and the noise was deafening and any amount of wounded kept pouring in day and night - it was simply heartbreaking and a sight I shall never forget.

"We stayed in the firing line for 11 days and on the morning of the 11th at 1:15am we left the White Chateau for Ypres and directly we got on the road. Dropped mustard gas shells each side of us and heavy lyddite as well and the gas hung around us like a fog, but all went well until we strayed off the road owing to not being able to see with our masks on.

"I fell down a hole and an overhanging tree caught my mask and I was hanging by it and I had to slip my mask off and in doing so I got a bad dose of gas and it made me very ill for a day or two."

Another entry reads: "On the morning of 17/7/18 a German plane was brought down about 200 yards from my cookhouse. It was a huge thing, it was brought down by machine gun fire. A bullet went right through his petrol tank. There were three men in it and when they dropped they set fire to it and it was burnt to bits."

Pte Pye's wartime collection also includes a scarce copy of trench magazine The Pannier, Christmas cards, documents, and photos. It also includes and a heartbreaking poem by he wrote in honour of his brother-in-law, 2nd Lt Reginald Smallwood, of the 5th Battalion Cheshire Regimentm, who was killed in action in 1917.

It reads: "Brother of mine, I'm sad at heart, "Though proud to think you played your part "Far from your home you fought so well, "And bravely fighting, nobly fell "Here in fair France vale you lie "But souls like yours, they never die "In God's fair mansions they go to reign "In God I trust shall meet you again."

The collection is set to fetch between £300 and £400 but could sell for far more when it goes under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers.

Head of Hansons Militaria Matt Crowson said: "It's a fascinating and poignant collection. It really brings home the brutality of war, particularly Frank's Army Medical Service stretcher-bearer's armband.

"The cotton is soiled with dirt and splashed with blood from the trenches more than 100 years ago, a grisly testament to the horrors witnessed. He saw death and destruction on a scale most of us find hard to comprehend, or even think about, inflicted on both sides.

"For example, he described seeing German soldiers hit by British shells, and that 'again a terrible sight met my eyes, men blown clean in half'."

Pte Pye left the military on February 12, 1919 after being deemed no longer fit for service. His blood-spattered medical armband and collection of diaries and photographs were passed down to his relatives following his death.

The collection will be sold at Hanson's Derbyshire auction room on August 7.