A small Collins Diary, issue 181, still bears the indent of the bullet that glanced off the spline of the pocket-sized book, saving an Australian soldier's life in World War I
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The Victorian soldier's first entry in the small diary, now faded with age, was: " If by chance, as is probable, I get shot, will the finder of this book kindly send it to Mr. G Whitty?"
The address following was that of the soldier's father.
Daily entries, written in neat handwriting, chronicle the soldier's life on the Western Front battleground.
Many of the entries reference the bitterly cold nights.
The diary and soldier, Ian James Whitty, made it home to Australia.
The author served in France and Belgium with the Australian Artillery.
The diary remained undiscovered for a generation or two, until the soldier's grandson, Mr Michael Whitty, happened upon it in 2015, a hundred years later.
So he embarked on a 30,000-kilometre bike ride with only this diary as his guide, and he explained why.
"It was a time in my life when I was homeless and sleeping rough.
"I'd had a successful career in IT, but the pressure of a high-powered life had taken its toll, so I decided to get out. I began managing hostels in the United Kingdom, where I'd been living most of my adult life," he said.
However, the job came with a new set of stresses.
After being used to an income that supported a comfortable lifestyle, he found it hard to survive on less.
This was followed by a decade of living on the street and sleeping rough, but that took its toll, too, and he struggled to see his way clear to continue with life at the time.
He began collecting his meager belongings, scattered around friends' homes, in an attempt to start again.
" I knew the diary was amongst my belongings, but when I came across it, it gave me some direction.
"The diary had deflected a bullet and saved my grandfather's life on the battlefield, and now it would save mine," he said.
"The diary entries provided my way out; they gave me direction, and I began my quest to visit every Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery, retracing my grandfather's steps.
"I borrowed a bike, and with just a few dollars in my pocket, I set off from England and headed for ANZAC Cove in Gallipoli," he said.
His travels continued through Europe, including the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany.
In 2023, he visited 12 CWGC cemeteries in Bermuda, the USA, Canada, and Auckland.
With a change to the goalposts, he now included the cemeteries of World War II.
By his calculations, he has 26,530 CWGC worldwide and any others he may pass on his route around the globe.
His goal is to meet his target before VJ Day in 2045.
Doing odd jobs along the way helped cover his expenses, so he continued pedaling from cemetery to cemetery.
"You see, I have somewhere to go each day when I wake up," he said.
"People ask me why?
"I can answer that in two vastly different ways, yet both are true.
"I can say I am on a 30-year bike ride, or I can say I am homeless and sleeping rough.
"Both are true, but the first one gets a better reaction from people I meet."
He plans to complete the Australian leg of his journey in two or three years, but if it takes more, that's okay, too.
He passed through Horsham on Monday, April 22, where he met up with Stuart and Ros Ross through a mutual friend.
He plans to be in Ballarat for ANZAC Day on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
