A Rare private soldier's diary of the British Army's 1868 campaign against the Pathan tribesmen in the Black Mountains, bordering India and Afghanistan, has been presented to a North Yorkshire museum.

Private Job Shepherd Waterhouse, centre, with comrades from the 1st Battalion the Green Howards who fought against the Pathan tribesmen in the Black Mountains, bordering India and Afghanistan, in 1868

Two grand-daughters of Private Job Shepherd Waterhouse have handed over the memories to the Green Howards Regimental Museum, in Richmond, in the form of a battered book written in immaculate handwriting.

Joyce Thorne and Edith Sims, of Christchurch, Dorset, were so proud of their grandfather, who served with the 1st Battalion the Green Howards, that they decided to have his diary put on show in the modern Howards' HQ.

Mrs Thorne said: "As a family we have all experienced my grandfather's early life through his diaries. He was a school teacher before he joined the Green Howards and his descriptions of the campaign are very detailed - even down to what he ate 8,000 feet up in the Black Mountains.

"My sister and I feel that the Regimental Museum is the best and safest place for the diary to remain."

The Green Howards Museum mounted a 'battlefield archaeology' expedition to the Black Mountains in 1997 which brought back many artefacts, including ball shot, silver badges of rank, knives and forks and many hob nails from army boots.

Major Roger Chapman, who led the expedition, said: "I wish we had seen Private Waterhouse's diary before we went to the North West Frontier of India.

"The official army reports and despatches we had to use don't tell the human story of the campaign that he has detailed.

"He tells, for example, of enduring snow and the cold of the mountains for more than three weeks before a return to their tented camp in Oghi and the joys of decent food."

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