Step back into the First World War through Private Henry Page’s never-before-seen sketchbooks, now available to explore in the Southwark Archives. Discover vivid line drawings capturing the humour and hardships of trench life across France, Salonika, and Egypt—from setting up tents to enduring the elements. Browse this rare visual diary to experience the war from Page’s unique perspective, filled with heartfelt sketches he once sent home to loved ones.
Step back into the First World War through Private Henry Page’s never-before-seen sketchbooks, now available to explore in the Southwark Archives. Discover vivid line drawings capturing the humour and hardships of trench life across France, Salonika, and Egypt—from setting up tents to enduring the elements. Browse this rare visual diary to experience the war from Page’s unique perspective, filled with heartfelt sketches he once sent home to loved ones.
Introducing two never-before-published sketchbooks from Private Henry Page, created during his service with the 2/24th Battalion London Regiment in the First World War. These line drawings, now held in the Southwark Archives, capture intimate, humorous, and heartfelt scenes from Page's time on the frontlines.
The collection is divided into two volumes of detailed sketches, originally donated in 1958 to the Queen’s Batteries’ Museum at the regiment’s headquarters, responding to a call by the curator for historical materials. After the museum’s closure, the collection found its way to the Southwark Archives, preserving Page’s unique firsthand depictions of trench life, from setting up tents and enduring insect-infested quarters in Salonika to lighthearted New Year’s sketches he sent home to his sweetheart. His journey, which took him from England to France, Greece, and Egypt, where he fell ill with typhoid, is thoughtfully chronicled in these newly digitised works—offering a rare window into a soldier’s wartime experiences through art.