Diary of the Campaign in France and Flanders, 1940, 1st Battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry

Full title: Diary of the Campaign in France and Flanders, May 10th - June 3rd 1940, kept by J.S.G. Lee, Second Lieutenant 1st Battalion The King's Shropshire Light Infantry, Commander 13 Platoon C Company.

Privately printed A4 booklet, 1992, 41 pages (A23KWSO)

From the foreword by John's sister: The original text of this diary is written in pencil in a small green covered notebook (16cm x 10cm approximately). The clean appearance of the paper and the even, unvarying pattern of the writing suggests that it is a fair version written up after the event, perhaps from notes made during the retreat. There is at least one piece of internal evidence to support this assumption: the reference (June 2nd) to the D.S.M. later awarded to the sailor, Burrows, for his rescue work But the vivid description of events and the impression of immediacy conveyed by the text suggest that it must have been compiled very shortly after John's return from Dunkirk. The notebook is stamped on the cover "Wings & Co. Ltd., Printers and Publishers, Bargate Library, Boston" which lends some support to this hypothesis as John was stationed near the coast in Lincolnshire in the late summer of 1940.

The diary was among John's few personal possessions returned to his parents after he was killed in action in 1944. The original has been presented to The Regimental Museum of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and will be on display with their other possessions in Shrewsbury Castle.

An account of John's short life, and notes on the John Lee Memorial Fund and annual dinner have been added as an appendix.

The condition of the booklet is generally good. The card covers have one or two minor scuffs and blemishes, and light wear along the edges and corners, but the staple binding is intact and all pages are intact and bound.