A NAVY blue bound diary with the year 1917 printed in gold sits in the home of Cathy Colvin of Old Bar.
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Inside it is filled with the words of World War I soldier John Leslie Hassell Davies, Cathy's grandfather.
To Cathy, the diary is affectionately known as 'Grandpa Jack's diary' and she has spent a great deal of time transcribing the small, cursive script.
Cathy's grandfather Jack served in WWI from age 19 to 23.
He survived the war despite an injury in which he was sent to England to recover, before being sent back to combat.
Cathy's grandfather died when she was four years old. He had lived between Griffith and Leeton following the war with his wife Amelia on their lease of land, which they turned into a rice farm.
A lot of the details of Jack's family life come from Cathy's older sisters, Diana McHugh and Sue Thornett, who each adored him dearly.
"They would tell me about the hole in his cheek where he was shot," Cathy said.
She squirmed at her sisters' stories of him pushing small items through the hole as a trick for the children.
"He was a bit of larrikin.
"He also spoke fluent French on his return from war."
Cathy had the diary sent to her when her daughter Ella Blyth was doing a war assignment at Taree High School.
When scribing the diary Cathy felt very close to her Grandpa Jack.
"At times, I had a very strange sensation of him talking to me, like I was there in that world. It was kind of like a movie, or like leaving this world and being in that world.
"I even found myself thinking about it a lot, even when I wasn't working on the diary.
"I guess the least we can do is read it and acknowledge this occurrence in these people's lives."
According to Cathy's mother Gwen Davies, Jack did not speak much of the war. In fact Jack's wife Amelia and Gwen didn't know about the existence of the diary until they cleaned out his writing desk.
Details inside the diary include a cover sheet noting the name of who to give it to in case of death or loss, a list of letters written and received, and a list of cigarettes smoked.
The parts of the diary that really astounded Cathy was the accounts of him being wounded.
"At times I found it very moving and distressing," said Cathy.
One update that sticks out to Cathy is being injured, Jack spent Anzac Day in England.
"It's Anzac Day as I found out later," wrote Jack. "Lady Wilson gave all the Australians in the hospital a bag of fruit."
For Anzac Day Cathy and her daughter will march in Taree, to commemorate a day that has always held a special place in their family.