Moira McPartlin: "I have the 1918 diary of my grandfather. It is only 1.5 inches by 3 inches [4cm x 7.5cm] and has only nine short entries through the entire year. "
"The diary came into my possession about 2001," says Moira, of her grandfather's journal. "About two years after my dad died we persuaded Mum to give up the family home and move into a modern retirement flat."
"My siblings and I helped mum clear the house. My dad was a hoarder and had a top drawer full of junk. It had never been touched."
"My mum wanted to get rid of most of the stuff, so my brothers and sister and I took what we wanted and binned the rest. One of the things I found was an old wallet and inside it was the dairy and some photos of my grandfather."
"My grandfather had died years before I was born. All I knew of him was that he was gassed in the war and had an open wound."
"When I read the diary with its few significant entries, I felt a real connection with this man and I felt his pain. He told me his whole story in these few words."
"My father never spoke much about him but I think he believed his war experience led to his relatively early death in his sixties."
"As a writer, I wanted to record my grandfather's year in hospital with a poem and I used the brass band theme as my guide."
"This dairy is very special to me. It is beginning to fall apart so I need to handle it with care."
"Unfortunately Mum died last year so I can't ask her for any more information. But I do have an older cousin who remembers him so I could ask her. He seemed like quite a character."
