Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes has raised the £900 it needed to buy a beautifully illustrated diary of a German prisoner of war.

The soldier, who was held in the camp at Horton Road, Devizes, from 1944 to 1946, has not been identified, but the diary entries, written in rhyming German dialect, have been translated and give a broad picture, sometimes humorous, of life behind the wire.

The diary has been purchased with a 50 per cent grant from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the rest of the money came from donations from local people.

The diary is going on show in the museum’s current On the Home Front: Wiltshire in World War II exhibition until March 14, but it will not be put on permanent display to preserve the fragile watercolour illustrations.

Curator Lisa Webb said: “We are delighted to have raised the £900 to purchase the diary.

“I would like to thank wholeheartedly the V&A purchase grant fund, members of the local community, friends of the museum and local businesses who have so generously given money to the fundraising appeal.”