IT PAINTS a fascinating picture of an Army on the move, advancing towards the Rhine during the final, costly months of the war.
But the notebook, which doubled as a war diary, contains little emotion – evidence, perhaps, of a soldier hardened by five years of fear.
Bombardier George Boreland ignored orders and kept a detailed record of events.
It begins on D-Day, the Allied invasion of occupied France on June 6, 1944.
And it ends abruptly on May 9, 1945, with the simple entry, "WAR ENDS" – the capital letter providing the only hint of emotion in the pages, now yellow with age.
Today, the ink nearly 69 years old, George's son Bob sits in his east Hull home, with 11 pages of family history and photos spread out before him on a kitchen table.
Photographs show a smiling, dark-haired man in his early 20s who left Hull to do his bit for King and country.
"The lads would have lived each day as it comes," says Bob, pointing out a 1939-1945 Star, with its dark blue, red and light blue ribbon, among a row of medals placed next to the diary.
"With so many of their friends being killed, I expect they would not have allowed themselves to feel much emotion."
Bob, 68, found the diary by chance, stuffed inside an old suitcase, while sorting through his father's belongings.
"I was amazed when I found the diary," says Bob, a retired lorry driver.
"I had no idea my father was even there on D-Day. He never talked about the war.
"I am very proud. He was very brave – they all were. It would have taken some nerve.
"I don't think my generation or the next could have been able to do what those lads did."
George was a crane driver before joining the Army shortly before the outbreak of war.
During the war years, he met his wife, Hannah and the couple married at St John's Church in Rosmead Street, east Hull.
But there was no honeymoon period for George, who served with East Riding Yorkshire Yeomanry, an armoured unit sent to bolster infantry forces on the beaches of Normandy in northern France.
George's entry for June 6, 1944 – arguably, the most important day in the war – is matter-of-fact.
He states: "D-Day. Landed 14:12hrs off Lion-sur-Mer, Queen Beach with 27th Amrd Bde in support of 3rd British Division."
George's notes suggest he came ashore at Sword – one of two sectors where British soldiers landed.
Bob says: "What those lads must have gone through, wading ashore onto those beaches, beggars belief."
But if George and his comrades had hoped for a spot of respite from the fighting in the days that followed, they would have been disappointed.
The Allies were met with pockets of fierce resistance from Germans still loyal to Hitler.
On June 7, known as D+1, George wrote: "Through Periers sur le Dan and Gazelle to support attack on Cambes. Attack repulsed. Lt Jenkins destroyed two tanks and three lorries."
Bob says: "Reading these entries, if anyone had claimed not to have been scared, they would have been lying. It sounds terrifying."
On March 24, 1945, with the Germans retreating, George finally crossed the strategic Rhine with 15 Division.
Then followed a well-deserved rest, according to the diary, which allowed crews to maintain their vehicles.
An entry for March 29 states: "Maintenance, rest and refitting with tanks."
George died, aged 76, in 1994, but Bob only recently found the diary.
"I'd forgotten all about the suitcase that it was kept in," he says. "It came as quite a surprise."
After the war, George returned to cranes, working in a city timber yard.
But it's clear the war years made a lasting impact.
Bob says: "Dad always wore a black beret to work. It's as though the discipline was ingrained in him.
"He was very proud to have served, even though he rarely spoke about the war or what he did."
Bob is now making enquiries with a view to the diary being displayed in a wartime museum.
