An astonishing cache of letters, diaries and drawings belonging to a First World War soldier have resurfaced almost a century after they were penned.
The collection tells the horrors of the trenches experienced by teenager Isaac McIlroy, who was a gunner and signaller with the Royal Garrison Artillery.
His previously unpublished account of life on the Western Front emerged from a box handed in to an antique shop.
They are due to go up for auction in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Isaac, from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, was just 19 when he marched off to Ypres in Flanders in January 1917.
His role was to spy on German troops from observation posts and to fire the huge Howitzer guns used to shell enemy lines.
Isaac survived the war and was mentioned in despatches.
Amazingly, the only injury he sustained was a septic toe he got on home leave.
Following his return to Motherwell in 1918, he went on to become a bank manager.
His touching personal effects were handed into to Greenside Antiques and Decorative Arts Centre in Newhouse, North Lanarkshire.
All that is known about Isaac is he moved house several times until his death in 1966, aged 68.
Hamish Wilson, a military expert with McTear’s auctioneers in Glasgow, said: “I have never seen such a collection like this in the one lot before.
“It has been very humbling sifting through them.”
Are you a relative of Isaac McIlroy? If so, please call Janet Boyle on 0141 567 2776 or email jboyle@sundaypost.com.
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