This Soldiers' Service and Paybook was originally for a young man in WWI. Ernest Smith, born in 1899, a farm labourer who went on to serve in the territorial army. He was married and lived in Braintree, Essex. It's a fascinating book to look through and includes photograph postcards of Ernest. The book poignantly has a page where the soldier can write his will although it has been left blank in this book. Ernest was awarded a Victory medal and Wound stripe (denoting that a soldier was injured in combat).
It feels like the book has become a gathering place for other bits of ephemera as there is also paperwork from a WWII soldier, including his medical examination card.
Dimensions approximately 13cm x 11cm.