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World War I (1918-1919) Diary of Matthias Harrington

The electronic file of the complete diary is extremely large (62 MB; 191 pages). Therefore, snippets of Matthias' military journey are presented in six sections, outlined below.

Note: Matthias Harrington used the same 1918 diary book to record his thoughts in 1919 by writing in the available space at the bottom of each page. The two different years are delineated by a horizontal line across the page or a notation of the year '1919'. Lighter ink also distinguishes the 1919 writing.

Diary Sections

Cover Section (PDF) - Presents the front and back covers, along with the 1918 calendar and zodiac symbol title pages. File size = 1.09 MB

Section 1 (PDF) - Camp Gordon, Georgia (January 1 - 5, 1918); File size = 1.12 MB

Section 2 (PDF) - Train From Camp Gordon to Camp Upton, New York & Life at Camp Upton (April 8 - May 1, 1918); File size = 3.90 MB

Section 3 (PDF) - Transport Ship Across Atlantic (April 26 - May 11, 1918); File size = 2.23 MB. Includes the following events:

  • 4/27/1918 - Sea sickness
  • 5/1/1918 - Water on deck
  • 5/5/1918 - Sub chasers
  • 5/6/1918 - Subs in area
  • 5/11/1918 - London

Section 4 (PDF) - France (May 12 - December 31, 1918); File size = 6.37 MB (Includes the following events:

  • 8/24/1918 - Attack
  • 8/28/1918 - Arrive at castle
  • 8/30/1918 - Prisoners
  • 9/08/1918 - Bombs dropped
  • 9/20/1918 - Body counts
  • 10/5/1918 - German occupied territory
  • 10/9/1918 - Peace Conference
  • 10/11/1918 - Casualties
  • 10/28/1918 - Buried American soldier
  • 11/01/1918 - Body counts
  • 12/31/1918 - Rabbit supper

Section 5 (PDF) - 1919 (May 14-15 and 22-29, 1919); File size = 1,0120 KB. Includes the following events:

  • 5/14/1919 - Arrives back in America & Camp Upton
  • 5/23/1919 - Discharged
  • 5/25/1919 - Home Sweat Home
Harrington diary