Walter Young was called up in August 1914, and served in France until his capture by the Germans in the spring of 1918. Although he never talked about the war once it was over, his writings vividly capture the mixture of boredom and terror that were so familiar to the soldiers on both sides. No-one knew that he had recreated his experiences so accurately - it was not till his son cleared the house after his father's death that three books in his father's meticulous handwriting were discovered. A committed Christian, Walter was concerned for the other soldiers, during his time in a German prisoner of war camp. This led to him running services, not something he had done before.