MILITARY

warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/richardf/public_html/dev/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc on line 33.

[First World War postcard poem by the 'Bath Railway Poet', Henry Chappell.] The Day. ['You boasted the Day, and you toasted the Day, | And now the Day has come.']

Author: 
Henry Chappell (1874-1937), the 'Bath Railway Poet' [Daily Express, London; First World War poetry]
Publication details: 
London: "Daily Express". Undated [1914]. 'Reprinted from the London "Daily Express" (Copyright).'
£160.00

Chappell gained a degree of fame with the publication of this poem in the Daily Express of 22 August 1914. The poem is addressed to the German people, and concerns the supposed toast among German army officers in the lead-up to the First World War, 'Der Tag' (i.e. 'the day' on which the war with England would commence). The poem is printed in portrait alignment on one side of a 14 x 8.5 cm postcard, within red and blue ink borders, giving a 'red white and blue' effect. Beneath the title in square brackets is the following: 'The author of this magnificent poem is Mr.

[E. Cecil Mornington Roberts.] Holograph Poem (signed 'Cecil Roberts'), a sonnet titled 'Liberty Challenged' ('Not without cause just and unshakeable').

Author: 
E. Cecil Mornington Roberts [Cecil Edric Mornington Roberts] (1892-1976), writer and editor
Publication details: 
On his 'E. CECIL MORNINGTON ROBERTS' letterhead, 'c/o Clarke & Co. | 13 & 14 Fleet St. EC.'
£100.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged, creased and worn paper. The poem features under the title 'Liberty Imperilled' in Roberts's collection 'Charing Cross and Other Poems of the Period' (1919), and the context suggests that the poem was composed at the commencement of the First World War. The sonnet begins: 'Not without cause just and unshakeable | Will we surrender up the cherished prize | Of individual liberty, so well | and nobly held'.

Unpublished Holograph First World War Poem (signed 'H W Aubrey') by English army officer Captain Henry Wentworth Windsor Aubrey [H. W. Aubrey], titled 'To our offspring - America' ('You're blood of our blood, & bone of our bone').

Author: 
Captain Henry Wentworth Windsor Aubrey [H. W. Aubrey] (c.1859-1934), M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.
Publication details: 
No place. Dated 24 July 1918.
£120.00

Henry Wentworth Windsor Aubrey was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Dorset Regiment Militia on 21 April 1875, and resigned his commission three years later. He qualified as a Doctor in 1885 and practiced in Clifton, where he was a keen cricketer and golfer. During the First World War he served in the RAMC, reaching the rank of Temporary Captain (Home) on 1 December 1917. 2pp., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with a couple of minor water stains to one corner.

[Winston Churchill, as First World War Minister of Munitions.] Typed minute 'From. Minister of Munitions, Mr. Winston Churchill. | To. The War Cabinet.', regarding 'the Munitions Programme for 1918'.

Author: 
Winston Churchill, as Minister of Munitions during the First World War [The War Cabinet; War Office, Whitehall]
Publication details: 
[War Office, Whitehall, London.] 21 October 1917.
£450.00

19pp., foolscap 8vo. Found in a tatty file marked 'War Office' (discarded!). Not duplicated, rather a carbon copy in purple ink of a typescript, with the indentation of the type apparent on the reverse. Minor correction on p.14: 'practises' to 'practised'. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with each of the nineteen leaves carrying punch-holes for a ring binder. An important document, written in characteristic style, quoted in the fourth volume of Churchill's 'World Crisis'. Divided into 31 numbered parts, beginning: '1.

[Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Ch MacGregor Qr') to 'O.C. Jagdalah', writing from Afghanistan [during the Second Anglo-Afghan War?] and instructing him to 'send a sufficient party to hold Seh Baba'.

Author: 
Major-General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor (1840-1887), Quartermaster General in India [Captain Tucker, Political Officer in Jamrood Fort, Afghanistan; Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878]
Publication details: 
'548 | Kabul 28 Decr [1878]'.
£250.00

1p., 8vo. On grey paper. Aged and worn, with chipping, glue stains and remains of gummed label. Laid down on leaf removed from album. The document reads: '548 [i.e. the number of the despatch] | Kabul 28 Decr | To O.C. Jagdalah. | In continuation of this office No 544 the O.C. is directed to request he will at once arrange to send a sufficient party to hold Seh Baba. | He is also to arrange to escort the <?> sent with Capt Tucker as far as Lataband or Butkhak if necessary, on their return journey. | They should return on Wednesday'.

[Duplicated typescript of humorous poem, marked 'SECRET | Official Use only!'] The Air Ministry Who's Who.

Author: 
[The Air Ministry, Whitehall, London, government department dealing with the Royal Air Force between 1918 and 1964]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [The Air Ministry, Whitehall, London. 1940s?]
£80.00

2pp., 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with small ink stains to two corners and short closed tears at the ends of a central vertical crease line. On paper with 'Ellams 22' watermark. Beneath the title: 'Note: All names guaranteed genuine, from the "London" section of the October telephone directory.' The poem consists of seven four-line verses and six different choruses.

[The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC).] 'Restricted' information document, duplicated typescript with illustrations.

Author: 
[The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC)]
Publication details: 
Communications Wing, School of Armour, Army Training Group, Waiouru [New Zealand]. 2 November 1975.
£100.00

6pp., 8vo. On three leaves stapled together, with punch holes for ring binder. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With 'RESTRICTED' at head and foot of each page. Corps badge at head of first page and six illustrations in text. Divided into 24 sections, with headings: Formation; Early History; The First World War; The Second World War; Post War; Alliances; The Badge; Corps Colours; Dress Distinctions; Corps Day; Official Music; Patron Saint; Corps Motto. Written in a no-nonsense style. For example, the final two sections read: 'Patron Saint | 23.

[Annotated typescript; play] "Charlotte Corday" A Tragedy in One Act ("C'est le crime qui fait la honte, et non pas l'echafaud", titlepage motto)

Author: 
Harry Graham [Jocelyn Henry Clive 'Harry' Graham (1874–1936)], writer, poet, humourist, journalist, soldier, traveller, " inventor of ruthless rhymes".
Publication details: 
Unpublished and Unrecorded, [c.1908?]
£950.00

[50] leaves (rectos numbered only), 4to, stiff boards, good condition, typescript, annotated by the author, additions, corrections, excisions, who has inscribed the recto of the free endpaper "Harry Graham. || Royal Court. | Palace of Westminster. | London, S.W. | England". The scene is set in Charlotte Corday's prison cell, and the dramatis personae listed are Charlotte herself; Francois Chabot (Deputy for the Departement of Loir-et-Cher; Jean-Jacques Hauer, A Young Artist; Richard, Warder at the Conciergerie Prison; Charles-Henry Sanson, Public Executioner.

Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Corps News.

Author: 
Royal Army Medical Corps, British Salonika Force, World War I
Publication details: 
February, 1917. ['British Salonika Force. General Headquarters, British Salonika Force, December 1, 1916.']
£100.00

8vo: 36 pp, paginated [17] to 52. Disbound and unbound. Grubby, but with text clear and entire. Outer bifolium in poor condition. Lacking stitching, so with each bifolium loose. Mainly consisting of lists of individuals receiving awards.

[Dame Ethel Locke King and Winifred Bidwell.] Autograph Letter Signed to Miss Martin Wood from Bidwell, enclosing another to Bidwell from Dame Ethel Locke King, regarding the employment of Wood at Caens Hill Auxiliary Military Hospital.

Author: 
Dame Ethel Locke King (1864-1956), Vice-President of the North Surrey Division, British Red Cross; Winifred Bidwell [Miss Martin Wood; Caens Hill Auxiliary Military Hospital; Brooklands]
Publication details: 
Both on (different) letterheads of the British Red Cross Society, North Surrey and Kingston Division. Dame Ethel Locke King's letter, 21 September [1915]. Winifred Bidwell's letter, 22 September [1915].
£120.00

Caen's Hill was the property of Mrs Locke King's husband, and opened as a hospital with 32 beds in 1914, with Mrs Locke King as Commandant of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Two years later it had 44 beds. It shut in 1919. After the war the Locke Kings developed motor racing in the area, with the celebrated Brooklands track. For more on Locke King and her distinguished war work, see her entry in the Oxford DNB and two articles in The Times, 6 and 14 August 1956. Both items 1p., 4to, in good condition, on lightly-aged paper.

[Lieut. James Hervey, 27th Regiment of Foot.] Autograph Letter Signed ('James Hervey | Lt. 27 Regt') to his father, describing his regiment's journey from Africa to Minorca, the island itself, and Sir Ralph Abercromby's coming mission to Egypt.

Author: 
Lieut. James Hervey, 27th Regiment of Foot [Sir Ralph Abercromby [Abercrombie] (1734-1801); General Henry Edward Fox (1755-1811), Governor of Minorca]
Publication details: 
'Mahon, Island of Minorca Novr 25th [and 29th] 1800'.
£400.00

3pp., 4to. 71 lines closely and neatly written. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor repairs to wear with gummed paper. Addressed, with three postmarks (one Portsmouth), on reverse of second leaf, to 'John Hervey Esqre | Ballangrew Cardross | by Stirling | N. Britain'. He reports that his regiment arrived at Minorca a few days previously 'from Fitwan Bay': 'on our leaving the coast of Africa a separation of the Fleet took place one half went direct of [sic] Malta & the other to this place to get Provisions, and water'.

[First edition.] Poems by Wilfred Owen. With an introduction by Siegfried Sassoon.

Author: 
Wilfred Owen [Siegfried Sassoon]
Publication details: 
London: Chatto & Windus, 1920.
£1,500.00

xi + [1] + 33 + [1]pp., 4to. Frontispiece engraving of photograph of Owen, with creased tissue guard. In red buckram, with white printed label on spine. Internally good, on lightly-aged paper, in worn and sunned binding. Ownership stamp and ownership signature on front free endpaper, and a third ownership signature, with address, on rear free endpaper.

[Pamphlet] The Channel Tunnel

Author: 
H. M. Hozier
Publication details: 
London: Printed by C.F. Roworth, Great New Street, Fetter Lane, [London], ec, 1888
£56.00

12pp., 8vo, spine reinforced, covers(pp.1-2) grubby, small closed tear, mainly good condition. I counted three copies of this, the first, edition on COPAC.

[Two 'Répertoire Lecombe' French First World War lyrics, printed on one handbill.] 'Verdun on ne passe pas! Marche populaire.' and 'Ce sont les Yeux'.

Author: 
[Jules Cazol; Eugène Joullot; René Mercier; Lecombe; the Battle of Verdun, 1916]
Publication details: 
'Imp. F. LAMBERT, Marché-au-Charbon, 12, Brux' [Brussels, Belgium; circa 1917.
£120.00

2pp., 4to. On a single leaf, both sides of which are headed 'Répertoire Lecombe'. Printer's slug at foot of 'Verdun on ne passe pas!' Both lyrics printed in two columns (no score to either). In good condition, on aged and worn high-acidity paper. 'Ce sont les Yeux' begins: 'Chacun dans la vie cherche son idéal.' The 'Dernier Refrain' reads: 'Et bien des yeux de mère, | Sont tournés vers la frontière | Où là-bas leurs chers petits enfants | Pour sauver la France donnent leur sang.

[William Sibbald, MD, Deputy Assistant-Inspector to Ceylon [Sri Lanka].] Manuscript translations [from Tamil?] of folk tales titled 'The Origin of the Kandelay Tank', 'Story of Manderapaudey' and 'The History of Santiraksen'. With fourth tale.

Author: 
[William Sibbald (1789-1853), Scottish British army physician [in the Peninsular, at New Orleans, Mauritius, and Maidstone, Kent] and Deputy Assistant-Inspector to Ceylon [Sri Lanka]]
Publication details: 
[Ceylon [Sir Lanka]?] One item on paper watermarked 1827, the other items undated.
£1,250.00

Sibbald was in Ceylon between 1818 and 1833. There is no indication that any of these four items have been published. One: 'The Origin of the Kandelay Tank'. 8pp., foolscap 8vo. On two bifoliums of paper with Gater watermark dated 1827. In good condition, on aged paper.

[William Sibbald, MD, Deputy Assistant-Inspector to Ceylon [Sri Lanka].] Manuscript of folk tale titled 'The History of Santirakasem | a free translation from the Tamal [sic]'.

Author: 
[William Sibbald (1789-1853), Scottish British army physician [in the Peninsular, at New Orleans, Mauritius, and Maidstone, Kent] and Deputy Assistant-Inspector to Ceylon [Sri Lanka]]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [Circa 1844?]
£400.00

30pp., 4to. On seven bifoliums and one single leaf, the bioliums stitched to one another. With several watermarks of J. Whatman, Turkey Mill, all dated to 1844. In good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Sibbald is not named, but the item is from his papers, and in his hand. Sibbald was in Ceylon between 1818 and 1833. There is no indication that this item has been published.

[William Huskisson, as joint secretary to the Treasury.] Two secretarial letters, both signed by him 'W. Huskisson', to the Quarter Master General Major General Robert Brownrigg.

Author: 
William Huskisson (1770-1830), Tory Member of Parliament for Liverpool and the first railway fatality [Sir Robert Brownrigg (1759-1833); the Royal Military Canal; Sir Brook Watson]
Publication details: 
Both from Treasury Chambers [London]. 12 December 1805 and 24 January 1806.
£135.00

Both documents 1p., folio. Both in good condition, on lightly-aged laid paper, the first with pin-holes from its attachment to another item. The first letter relates to 'the Expences incurred in constructing the Royal Military Canal', with reference to a 'Letter from Sir B[rook]. Watson Bt' and 'Lieut. Col. Brown's Accounts for expenditure'. The second letter again deals with communications from Watson and Brown, the latter 'enclosing Accounts & Vouchers for the Expenditure on the Royal Military Canal & Rampart'.

[Sir Charles Oman, military historian.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C. W. C. Oman') [to H. E. Wortham], offering to act as guide to 'King Edward's very archaic Oxford abode'.

Author: 
Sir Charles Oman [Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman] (1860-1946), military historian [Hugh Evelyn Wortham (1884-1959), biographer]
Publication details: 
'As from Frewin Hall, Oxford', and on letterhead of the House of Commons Library. 3 October 1931.
£38.00

1p., 12mo. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. 'If you would ever care to look round King Edward's very archaic Oxford abode, I can shew you it, with engravings of its details in his day - coloured and otherwise. It is a nice old house - half Elizabethan, half Queen Anne.' He concludes by explaining that he is 'at Westminster all the middle days of the week, save in the recess', and so requires notice. From the H. E. Wortham papers.

[General Sir Robert A. Cassels, Commander-in-Chief, British Army in India.] Printed 'India Army Orders by His Excellency General Sir Robert A. Cassels, G.C.B., C.S.I., D.S.O., Commander-in-Chief in India.'

Author: 
General Sir Robert Archibald Cassels (1876-1959), Commander-in-Chief, British Army in India
Publication details: 
Army Headquarters, Simla [India]. 12 May 1936.
£120.00

26pp., 12mo, paginated [527]-552. Unbound and stapled. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with rusted staples and punch-hole in top left-hand corner. Scarce: no copies traced on either COPAC or WorldCat.

[Colonel Ernest Lethbridge.] Fourteen Autograph Letters Signed ('Ernest') to his brother Sir Wroth Lethbridge, mainly reflecting on currrent developments in the Second World War.

Author: 
Colonel Ernest Astley Edmund Lethbridge (1864-1943) of The Firs, Headington Hill, Oxford, and his brother Sir Wroth Lethbridge (1863-1950), 5th Baronet, of Westaway House and Winkley Court, Somerset
Publication details: 
The fourteen letters written between April and August 1940. All from Headington Hill, Oxford (ten on letterheads).
£200.00

Colonel Lethbridge commanded the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, and was mentioned in despatches twice, and decorated several times, during service in the Great War. For more information about the two brothers, see their entries in 'Who Was Who'. Totalling 8pp., 4to; 30pp., 12mo. The ten 12mo letters are in good condition, lightly-aged, while the four 4to letters are aged and worn, with chipping to extremities.

[Rev. Dr George Croly.] Autograph drafts of three passages from an anonymous article in Blackwood's Magazine entitled 'Russia', dealing with Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation as Emperor of the French. and his entry into and retreat from Moscow.

Author: 
Rev. Dr George Croly (1780-1860), Anglo-Irish clergyman and writer, editor of the Tory weekly The Constitution [Blackwood's Magazine, Edinburgh and London; Napoleon Bonaparte; Napoleonic Wars]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [Published in Blackwood's Magazine (Edinburgh and London, April 1826).]
£400.00

3pp., 8vo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Unsigned, but certainly in Croly's hand. The first page is headed: '- for tho' the Old Law was established in the promises of temporal prosperity, yet the gospel is founded in temporal adversity'. The three extracts, fiercely critical of the French emperor, follow over a total of 61 lines, with a few minor emendations.

[Malcolm Osborne, painter.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Westley Manning, in the first describing his wartime enlistment in the Artists Rifles, and training under the artist William Lee-Hankey.

Author: 
Malcolm Osborne (1880-1963), English landscape painter [William Westley Manning (1868-1954), artist; The Artists Rifles, British Territorial Army; William Lee-Hankey (1869-1952), artist]
Publication details: 
The first from 11 Edith Grove, Chelsea. 24 July 1915. The second from 15 Redcliffe Square, South Kensington. 25 July 1921.
£160.00

Both letters in very good condition, neatly written out on lightly-aged paper. ONE: 2pp., 4to.

[Brigadier Sir Edward Beddington.] Typescript of his autobiography 'My Life', dedicated and inscribed to his sons,

Author: 
Brigadier Sir Edward Henry Lionel Beddington (1884-1966), CMG, DSO, MC, of Anstey Hall, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, recipient of the Military Cross in the First World War
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 1960.
£450.00

Beddington's entry in Who Was Who describes his career thus: 'Served European War, 1914-19 (despatches six times, CMG, DSO, MC, Legion of Honour, Commander of Order of Aviz, Order of Sacred Treasure, Bt Major and Lt-Col); served again, 1940-45. DL and JP Hertfordshire; Chairman Herts CC, 1952-58; High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, 1948-49'. And his obituary in The Times, 26 April 1966, reads as follows: 'Brigadier Sir Edward Beddington, C.M.G., D.S.O., M.C., late 16th Lancers, died yesterday at the age of 82. | The son of H. E. Beddington, he was educated at Eton and R.M.C.

[John Campbell, 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Breadalbane.] Autograph Letter Signed to him from Archibald Campbell ('Archd. Campbell') of Edinburgh, reporting on matter relating to Breadalbane's Highland Fencible Corps, the Breadalbane Fencibles.

Author: 
John Campbell (1762-1834), 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Breadalbane, Scottish landowner [Archibald Campbell; the Highland Fencible Corps; Breadalbane Fencibles]
Publication details: 
Edinburgh; 16 July 1798.
£140.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. Address, with two postmarks, on additional leaf. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter contains references to Sir Ralph Abercromby, Sir Benjamin Dunbar, Lord McDonald, Lord Stonefield, the Duke of York, 'Mr. Geddes' and 'McGrigor'. It begins: 'Yesterday being Sunday I was prevented from doing any business, or leaving Town, before this day - I called on my friend Mr. Geddes to day, & communicated to him the reason of my absence from the Reg[imen]t.

[Royal Military College, Lanvers, Perthshire.] Printed circular letter from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, regarding cadets 'incurring Debts with Tradesmen'. Addressed in manuscript to H. G. Watson, concerning his ward D. R. Williamson.

Author: 
[Royal Military College, Sandhurst; H. G. Watson of Edinburgh; Cadet D. R. Williamson]
Publication details: 
Royal Military College [Sandhurst]. 9 June 1845.
£120.00

1p., 4to. On bifolium. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'H. G. Watson Esqr. | 13 St. Andrew's Square | Edinburgh', with three postmarks, and docketted 'Lawers | Military College 9 June 1845. | Tradesmens Bills'. In good condition, on aged and worn paper, with a few closed tears. The signature is illegible, but does not appear to be that of the Governor, General Sir George Scovell.

[Sir Hubert Gough, as head of Inter-Allied Mission, Finland.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H P Gough') to Daily Express editor R. D. Blumenfeld, describing 'situation' and complaining of failure of War Office to send munitions for White Russian forces.

Author: 
Sir Hubert Gough [Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough] (1870-1963) [Ralph David Blumenfeld ('R. D. B.') (1864-1948), Daily Express editor, 1902-1932; Inter-Allied Mission, Finland; White Russians; Bolsheviks]
Publication details: 
'Helsingfors. | British Mission. | 3rd July [1918].'
£400.00

2pp., 12mo. In very good condition: lightly-aged and creased. Writing to 'My dear Blumenfeld', Gough begins with a few lines on 'your correspondent, Muir' (with reference to Blumenfeld's 'Yankee' origins -which also included strong anti-Communist sentiment), before giving a general analysis. 'This is a most complex situation out here, as there are so many interests pulling different ways - it is not always easy to see one's way clear.

[Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), 1st Duke of Wellington.] Autograph Letter, in the third person, to 'Quarter Master Jones', regarding his request to be 'removed from half to full pay'.

Author: 
Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), 1st Duke of Wellington
Publication details: 
London. 8 February 1829.
£500.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper, with a nineteenth-century repair to short closed tears. The letter reads: 'The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Quarter Master Jones and begs leave to inform him in answer to His Letter of the 3d Inst, thaht He must apply to the General Comm[andin]g. the Army in Chief; the Duke has nothing whatever to say to the Details of the Army or to the Selection of Gentlemen to be removed from half to full pay. | London Feb. 8. 1829'.

[Richard Caton Woodville, English military artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. Caton Woodville') to 'Mr. Copley', reserving three double rooms in a hotel for his party, requesting a coach for the luggage and 'a great many dry Champagnes & Soda'.

Author: 
Richard Caton Woodville (1856-1927), English military artist and illustrator [Copley; Sports Club, St James's Square]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Sports Club, St James's Square, SW. 25 July 1919.
£35.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, aged and with spike hole through the two leaves. According to Woodville's entry in the Oxford DNB he 'had expensive tastes, moved with a fast bohemian and sporting set, and enjoyed big-game hunting, pig-sticking, fishing, and, it is said, many extramarital affairs', and the present item supports that evaluation. After requesting the three double rooms he states: 'Our party is: Ourselfs. [sic] Mr. & Mrs. A. Broadwood Col. & Mrs. Holman'. He asks to be informed 'if it is allright [sic]' at his London address of 107 Queen's Gate, SW.

[Lieutenant-Colonel John Vandeleur, 10th Royal Hussars.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Military Secretary FitzRoy Somerset [Raglan]l, re. an application from one of his adjutants named Gladstone. Docketed with Autograph Note on subject by Somerset.

Author: 
Colonel John Vandeleur (c.1793-1864) of the 10th Hussars, Aide de Camp to General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur (1763-1849) in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo [Lord Fitzroy Somerset (1788-1855)]
Publication details: 
Dorchester. 17 May 1839.
£80.00

1p., 4to. On bifolium. Very good on lightly-aged paper. Green date stamp of the Commander in Chief's Office. Docketed on reverse of second leaf with barely legible note by Somerset (he had had to learn to write with his left hand after losing his right arm at Waterloo), beginning 'Inform Messrs Cox of the intention'. Vandeleur considers that it 'would be a very great Indulgence to Mr. Gladstone to allow him the indulgence he asks provided it can be done without inconvenience to the Service'.

[Corporal Robert Walter Miller, RAF.] 228 Autograph Letters Signed, 18 airgraphs and three telegrams to his wife, written while serving as a Second World War accounts clerk. With letters from Ralph Billings, Kenneth Hampton and Bernard Hollobone.

Author: 
Corporal Robert Walter Miller, RAF; his wife Margaret Patrica Miller (nee Batchelor) of Eastbourne, Sussex [Brigadier Ralph Billings, Kenneth Hampton and Bernard Hollobone; 527 RCAF Squadron; SEAAF]
Publication details: 
Miller's letters from: RCAF Digby, Lincolnshire; RAF Snailwell, near Newmarket, Suffolk; with SEAAF in South-East Asia (Calcutta, India and elsewhere). 1943 to 1946. Other correspondents' letters from 1940 to 1943.
£350.00

On his daughter's 1943 birth certificate (a copy of which accompanies the collection) Miller is descfibed as 'L/AC 1224106 Royal Air Force (accountants Clerk) of 40 Victoria Drive Eastbourne'. His 228 letters, 18 airgraphs and three telegrams are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Around April of 1944 Miller moves with 527 RCAF Squadron from RAF Snailwell, near Newmarket, Suffolk, to RCAF Digby in Lincolnshire, where he remains until the end of 1944. Thereafter he joins RAF SEAAF [South East Asian Air Force], serving in the vicinity of Calcutta, India.

Syndicate content