16-07-2025
Long lost WWI sketchbook reveals Tommy's view of life in the trenches in the year of the Battle of the Somme
A fascinating sketchbook from a Tommy in the trenches has been discovered in a storage locker 109 years later.
Lieutenant Frederick Holmes was a Chelsea tailor and an accomplished artist before the start of the First World War.
He was sent to the Western Front in 1916 - the year of the bloody Battle of the Somme - and fought with the London Regiment.
During his time there he produced 45 colour sketches depicting wartime views including life in the trenches and the French countryside.
There is a poignant image of a lone soldier sitting at the end of a trench with his bayonet staring into the distance.
Another is of a collection of rifle grenades stood upright and primed for action while a third is a harrowing view of a smouldering battlefield.
Away from the front Lieutenant Holmes also captured views of the French countryside.
There is one picture of a church at Auxi-le-Chateau which had so far escaped battle damage and a row of barren trees.
On a break from fighting, Lieutenant Holmes brought his sketchbook with him to the idyllic St Cecile beach on the north French coast and did some drawings there.
The tranquil setting would have been a stark contrast to the bloodshed he witnessed on the battlegrounds of north west France.
The sketchbook was recently unearthed by the vendor who was going through a storage locker in Devon.
Its previous provenance is a mystery but the auctioneers hailed it as a 'rare and evocative discovery'.
The sketchbook has emerged for sale for £1,200 at Rendells Auctioneers, of Newton Abbot, Devon.
Dave Marochan, specialist at Rendells Auctioneers, said: 'The vendor was at a storage locker sale in Devon and spotted the sketchbook which caught her interest.
'We sadly don't know how it ended up there in the first place but it is really is a fabulous thing.
'There are 45, mostly colour, sketches which are of high quality and Lieutenant Holmes clearly had a very good eye.
'We believe that he worked as a tailor in Chelsea which helped him with the lines.
'There are some very evocative sketches of life in the trenches and you almost feel as it you are transported back there.
'To discover something like this is quite rare and I would say it is worthy of a museum.'
The sale takes place tomorrow.
