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Ypres 1914   14 Books
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A Record of the 53rd (Welsh) Divisional Cyclist Company. Gallipoli - Egypt - Palestine, 1915-1919. 1st Ed., 117pp., 5 photo. portraits of officers, 2 other photos., 2 maps. Manchester: Rawson & Co., Printers. nd (c.1919)  #65892
[HLMainPic] Formed in early 1915 the unit served in Gallipoli from August.-December 1915 & Egypt/Palestine 1916-18. Rare history with much interesting detail plus various nominal rolls (the original Coy. in July 1915 & subsequent drafts received. This copy with ownership inscrip. of a member of the unit who appears in the roll of 'originals.' He has added a postcard photo. of the HMAT 'Wiltshire' (which transported them to the East), pasted-in a newspaper cutting from the Stockport Express oj March 1971 in which he records his experiences, plus a related letter & photo. Orig. blue cloth, gilt to front, worn but rare & interesting copy. See illustrations on our website.   £245
Richard Vincent Sutton: A Record of His Life Together with Extracts from His Private Papers. 1st Ed., [ii]+195pp., 290x217mm, portrait frontis., 3 other portraits, 2 further plates (one of HQ Staff, 4th Army, 1917, all subjects identified), several small sketches and diagrams. Printed [for private circulation] by George W. Jones, Gough Square, Fleet Street. 1922  #66399
[HLMainPic] A fine & rare memorial volume. Sir Richard Vincent Sutton, sixth Baronet of Norwood Park, county Nottingham, and Benham Valence, Berkshire, "Dick," was born in 1891 and Ed. at Eton. Failing to gain entry to Oxford University he was granted a commission in the 1st Life Guards in 1910, doing duty in London and Windsor when not shooting on his estate or travelling in europe. He served abroad with the Life Guards in October 1914, when after three weeks in Flanders, he was slightly wounded near Zandvoorde on the 25th. This first period of active service is described in lengthy daily diary entries. Sutton returned to his regiment in March 1915 and was wounded again on 13th May near Hooge. Out again in August and joined IV Corps Staff for several months then 4th Army Staff, where he remained for twenty-five months as ADC to Sir Henry Rawlinson, including the planning and execution of the Battle of the Somme. In September 1917 he was then reclaimed by his regiment as Adjutant, then served with the Guards Machine Gun Regiment in 1918. Surviving to the end, he was struck down by influenza after the armistice and died in Base Hospital at Wimereux on 29th November 1918. He was buried in the Terlincthun British Military Cemetery, was twenty-seven years old and held the Military Cross. This lavish memoir includes lengthy extracts from his letters to family and friends throughout his service on the Western Front. Blue/grey paper covered boards with wheat cloth backstrip with paper label, VG.. See illustrations on our website.   £350
CHARRINGTON (Major H.V.S., MC) The 12th Royal Lancers in France August 17th, 1914-November 11th, 1918. 1st Ed., [vii]+50pp., 5 plates. (inc. named group of officers in 1914). Aldershot: G&P. 1921  #64645
[HLMainPic] Useful although fairly succinct account. Roll of Hon., roll of officers. Orig. red cloth, gilt, front board marked o/w VG ex-IWM lib., withdrawn stamp inside rear cover. See illustration on our website.   £65
DONOVAN (Tom) In Memoriam: A Bibliography of Personal Memorial Volumes of the Great War, 1914-1918. 1st Ed., x+390pp., 62 col. illus. on 16 plates. VG in dw. Tom Donovan Editions. 2015  #62063
[HLMainPic] Contains detailed descriptions of 370 WW1 memorial volumes recorded by me over some 30 years, including trawling the collections of the IWM, British Library, &c. The personal memorial volumes of the Great War, 1914-1918, were a phenomenon particular to the period & more especially to the sons of upper middle class temporary officers who fell in very large numbers. Memorial volumes were of course produced for a number of Regular Army (& Navy) officers too, as well as for a few "other ranks" & to several Americans serving with the British Forces. When making my selection I have also been mindful of the need to establish a working definition of what we mean by a Great War personal memorial volume. My assumption has been that the volume must be 'personal,' i.e. about an individual or, in some cases, about multiple related individuals such as brothers. The subject of the volume must have been on active service during the Great War & must have died as a result of that service, having been killed in action, died of wounds or died as a result of sickness or accident. In other words the volume must have been compiled & published posthumously. The contents must include at least one of the following: memoirs, letters, or diaries; the memoirs may be written by the subject or by a third party about the subject; the letters may be written by or to the subject or may be letters of condolence written to the family after the subject's death. In addition the volume may include biographical details & poetry written by the subject but I have specifically excluded formal biographies & volumes of verse. These criteria encompass a broad range of publications from small privately printed volumes to mass-produced books that ran into many editions, & from pamphlets to luxurious leather-bound volumes. Similarly the range and variety of content included is substantial. These volumes constitute a rich vein for modern historians to mine. They constitute a canon of writing – much of it surprisingly fine considering the youth of the writers – which provides us with an insight into a wide range of personal experiences & emotions that collectively represents the active service experience of this generation. The letters and diaries reproduced in these volumes, together with the memorials of their lives written by those who knew them, & the letters of condolence written by comrades & friends, tell us much about these young men, their society & background &, implicitly, the impact of the war on British society. These accounts complement the various formal official & regimental histories & the large number of memoirs produced after the war. A few are simply bald biographical records; most are informative & many are amusing & entertaining. Some are quite exceptional in the range of emotion & experience eloquently described. Many are, inevitably, highly moving. To assist researchers I have included extensive indexes of regiments, cemeteries & memorials, schools & colleges, battles & other events of the Great War. Published in an edition of 100 copies & now out of print, but I have a handful of copies left. See illustrations on our website.   £95
HARVEY (David) Monuments to Courage: Victoria Cross Headstones & Memorials. 2 Vols., 1854-1916; 1917-1982. Introduction by HRH Princess Alexandra & Foreword by Sir Roden Cutler, VC, &c. 1st Ed., 2 Vols., [xxx]+416 & [xii]+433pp., several thousand photos. Fine in dws & slipcase. Published On Behalf of the Author by Kevin & Kay Patience. 1999  #66766
[HLMainPic] Two sumptious, fully illustrated volumes, recording the memorials & graves of VC holders from inception in the Crimean era to the Falklands War. A truly admirable project, superbly researched & photographed & published to an impressively high standard. See illustration on our website.   £30
KENNEDY (Rev. E.J.) With the Immortal Seventh Division. 4th Ed., x+198pp., portrait frontis. VG in dw. H&S. 1916  #65516
[HLMainPic] Chaplain with the 7th Div. 1914-15: an account of his experiences with chapters including "The Care of the Wounded," "Work at the Base" &c. Note: Chaplain Major Kennedy served for a year with the BEF, 1914-15. Returning to England he died of illness in 1916. Orig. red cloth, VG in dw & rare thus. See illustrations on our website.   £145
L.F.R. [i.e. ROBINSON (Lt. Lionel F., RN)] Naval Guns in Flanders 1914-1915. 1st Ed., viii+184pp., frontis., 18 photos., 13 maps. Constable. 1920  #65152
[HLMainPic] In October 1914 the author, a naval Gunnery Officer, was ordered to Belgium to command a unit of 6-inch naval guns on railway mountings, HM Armoured Train 'Jellicoe.' This unusual unit moved around Flanders giving invaluable artillery support during the First Battle of Ypres, winter operations before La Bassee, then at Neuve Chapelle & on the Yser front in the spring of 1915. A fine personal account containing much interesting detail, some scarce photos. & useful maps. Roll of personnel of HMAT 'Jellicoe.' This copy appears to have belonged to the author's uncle. The title page bears the publisher's embossed stamp "Presentation Copy" & there are several loose insertions to include (i) Contemp. (c.1915) 3pp. foolscap typescript account on official paper headed "H.M.A.T. Jellicoe" being a short account of the organisation, armament & operational services of the train, Oct. 1914-April 1915, with several neat ink corrections to the text; (ii) 6pp. ms. letter from the author to his uncle, on Union Line decorative notepaper while on board SS Maheno at sea between Auckland & Sydney dated 2.5.20. He writes, inter al, "Your letter of 5 March... contained the first news, to me, of the fact that my small book was out. Maybe I'll see it soon..." He goes on to describe his work in connection with the visit to HRH The Prince of Wales to Fiji: "I had of course met HRH on two or three occasions in France & on the Belgian Coast, he remembered me more as the bearded ruffian of the armoured train - for in 1914-15 I had a beard. He is the same as ever a jovial sort & typical naval officer. The first night I was his guest at dinner, we argued & recollected till midnight - he being as deeply interested as I was honoured. The next evening he joined us all in the Wardroom [of HMS Renown] which immediately assumed the aspects of a riotous gunroom of years gone by - HRH being the leading spark in every devilment & ribald song that passed. How he loves to break away! He is a great amusement at dances..." (iii) several small items of minor ephemera. Orig. olive green cloth, gilt, VG, interesting copy & rare. See illustrations on our website.   £350
L.F.R. [i.e. ROBINSON (Lt. Lionel F., RN)] Naval Guns in Flanders 1914-1915. 1st Ed., viii+184pp., frontis., 18 photos., 13 maps. Constable. 1920  #65893
[HLMainPic] In October 1914 the author, a naval Gunnery Officer, was ordered to Belgium to command a unit of 6-inch naval guns on railway mountings, HM Armoured Train 'Jellicoe.' This unusual unit moved around Flanders giving invaluable artillery support during the First Battle of Ypres, winter operations before La Bass‚e, then at Neuve Chapelle & on the Yser front in the spring of 1915. A fine personal account containing much interesting detail, some scarce photos. & useful maps. Roll of personnel of HMAT 'Jellicoe.' Orig. olive green cloth, gilt, little spotted o/w VG & very rare. See illustration on our website.   £165
LEVY (Stanley J.) Memories of the 71st & 83rd Companies, R.A.S.C., M.T., 1914-1918. 1st Ed., 176pp., frontis., 20 photos., 25 sketches. Printed for Private Circulation in an Edition of 200 copies by The Abbey Press, Westminster. 1931  #65464
[HLMainPic] Finely produced record of these Mechanical Transport units of the ASC on the Western Front, with much interesting & intimate detail on their work & experiences. Operations include 1st, 2nd & 3rd Ypres; Neuve Chapelle; Loos; Battles of the Somme, &c. Orig. half blue morocco, cloth boards, gilt to front & spine, near fine. This example, No. 155 of just 200 produced, presented to former comrade H. Leppard. A particularly rare & informative record. See illustration on our website.   £225
LINDSAY (Lt.-Col. J.H.) The London Scottish in the Great War. 2nd Ed., xvi+425pp., 19 illus., 22 fldg maps. RHQ. 1926  #67201
[HLMainPic] 1st Bn. served F&F 1914 (notably at Messines) to 1918 inc. Loos, Somme, Cambrai &c. 2nd Bn. in France, Salonika & Palestine. Roll of Hon., awards. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, VG. See illustration on our website.   £50

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