A talk organised recently by the Friends of Narberth Museum ended with a surprise donation.

Sandra Rowlands, the speaker, outlined the sources of information available to those researching soldiers of the First World War. She took as her starting point the war memorial in Llanddewi Velfrey. She had investigated the military history of the men named there for her master's degree and gave poignant and timely examples of their tragic stories.

William Bowen Stephens, the first soldier on the memorial, has particular significance for the museum. Many of his letters, photographs and possessions form part of the collection and are currently being prepared for display.

Sandra commented that, although very few survived, soldiers' war diaries were important and telling sources of information about a soldier's war service.

It was, then, a heart-stopping moment when Tom Pegg, a member of the audience, presented the curator with a small red 1917 diary that had belonged to William Bowen Stephens himself.

"We were taken aback," said curator Pauline Griffiths, "to think that this had survived in such good condition. We are so grateful for the donation and can't wait to transcribe the contents and share the information it contains."

Visitors to the museum will shortly be able to see the diary and other related artefacts on display.