Len Smith, the author of the diary, became friends with Australian Tom Cleary wile they both recovered at Wimeraux hospital in France in 1916. Amongst the pages of the diary is a sprig of wattle sent by his family thousands of miles away in Sydney. The flower remains intact and still shows signs of its original colour from more than 90 years ago. Tom is believed to have given Len the wattle as a symbol of their friendship when he knew he was going back home. Tom was invalided out of the Army in 1917 after he developed tuberculosis and pleurisy. Through research and talking to his family it has been established (by researcher Vince McGarry) that Tom joined up in 1915 at the age of 37. He went to Egypt with his battallion for training before going to France. Less than three  months later in July 1916, he saw action at the Battle of Fromelles, one of the grimmest days in Australian history. Some 1,400 Australians an 600 British soldiers died and thousands more were wounded.

Tom's records at the National Archives in Canberra have a stamped entry saying WOUNDED IN ACTION France 20 7 1916. There's no clue as to how he was wounded, though later his file says he was treated for bronchitis. He spent three months at the hospital at Wimeraux before being sent to England. As he recovered with diary author Len Smith he wrote poems which were illustrated by Len. See below. Pictures courtesy of Tom's family

Tom had married before the war; he and his wife, Olive, had two girls, Gwendoline and Frances. Sadly the first marriage ended in divorce and Tom remarried. He and his new wife, Molly, had a daughter, Helen, who died aged 13, and a son they named Tom. Tom died 13 years ago but his widow, Roz, and their three daughters still live in Sydney. Tom died in January 1943 as his country was engaged in another war against Germany. He is buried at Rockwood Cemtry in Sydney.

One of Tom's poems reads: He left friends in England, good and kind, While I, Austrlia's shores had left behind. Shores that sheltered kith and kin, my call, Before I answered the Homeland's call. 'Twas then true friendship came.