Turner Donovan Military Books - The world’s finest selection of rare and out-of-print books on British military history from 1800 to 1945
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The First World War The First World War, Personal memoirs of soldiers of all nations on all fronts, anthologies, literature and fiction, history and analysis   800 Books
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The Letters of Major Henry Bentinck, Coldstream Guards. 1st Ed., vi+138pp., portrait frontis., 3 plates. VG in sl. chipped dw. Robert Scott. 1919  #65201
[HLMainPic] Henry Duncan Bentinck was ed. at Harrow & Trinity College, Cambridge. Commissioned Coldstream Guards in 1903, served in Egypt/Sudan 1903-1911 & 1913-1915 (with XII Sudanese). He joined the 2nd Coldstream in France in April 1915 & Died of Wounds on 2/10/1916, of wounds received on the Somme. Contains a memoir & his letters including those from France April 1915-Sept. 1916. Of interest for life in trenches, Guards characters, &c. Orig. red cloth, VG in sl. chipped dw & scarce, especially in dw. See illustrations on our website.   £175
The Path of Honour: Sgt. Basil T. Wilmer's Experiences in the Great War, 1914-1918. 1st Ed., 160pp., portrait frontis., 17 photos., plate of original battlefield grave, diagram, sketch map. Launceston, Tasmania: A.W. Birchall & Sons. 1919  #65462
[HLMainPic] Diary from enlisting in August 1914 in 11th Bn. AIF, 1st Australian Div., training then landing at Gallipoli where wounded on the first day; rejoined after a few weeks convalescence then proceeded to Western Front where he exchanged into the Australian Field Artillery & was KiA with 3rd Battery AFA near Zillebeke on 21st July 1917, & buried at Reninghelst. Rare & detakled diary containing much of interest. Orig. dec. paper covd. boards, sp. chipped, generally VG. See illustrations on our website.   £250
Artillery Operations of the Ninth British Corps at Messines, June, 1917. 1st Ed., orig. printed wraps., 124pp., 4 fldg. plates, 10 fldg. maps, 2 tables. Edited at Army War College, Aug. 1917, printed by US Govt. Ptg. Office, Washington. 1917  #66734
[HLMainPic] Designated CONFIDENTIAL! For official use only NOT TO BE TAKEN INTO FRONT LINE TRENCHES. Contains a detailed study of artillery preparations for the Battle of Messines, 7th June 1917, & reproduces various instructions, orders, reports, intelligence & communications. A Summary of Artillery Operations explains that "Systematic trench bombardment & wire cutting was commenced about May 21, 1917, & was intensified about May 28. During the period May 28 to June 6, inclusive, 297 trench bombardments were carried out with aeroplane observation. Wire was cut along front & support lines by trench mortars & 18-lbr. batteries, & on rear lines by 6-inch howitzers with aeroplane observation..." The most informative text is supported by reproductions of four aerial photos. of parts of the Messines battlefield & ten excellent actual size 1:10,000 & 1:20,000 British operational fldg. trench maps, barrage maps, &c., & several tables, all reproduced in colour. Objectives, barrage lifts &c. are shown in great detail. Orig. brown printed wraps., chipped & worn, signs of much use but generally VG, complete & rare. See illustrations on our website.   £225
The Gallant Legion. Complete set of 12 Vols. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. 1930s.  #66392
[HLMainPic] Angus & Robertson was the most prolific publisher of war memoirs in Australia after the Great War & produced a number of notable & several classic texts recording the experiences of Australian men & women in the Army, Naval, Nursing & Air services. At some point during the late 1930s, presumably to give a new lease of life to unbound sheets, the publisher reissued all these works in a series called The Gallant Legion. The sheets of various (but not 1st) editions were bound in excellent quality blue cloth with the series title at the head of the spine, plus the number of the volume in the series, with the individual volume title & author below, & a fighting soldier motif at the foot of the spine. All the volumes in this edition are complete as per the original texts, with all maps & photos. as originally published. This fine body of work, complete here in 12 volumes, includes: IDRIESS (Ion L.) The Desert Column; MAXWELL (J., VC, MC, DCM) Hell's Bells & Mademoiselles; WHITE (T.W.) Guests of the Unspeakable; RULE (E.J., MC, MM) Jacka's Mob; WILLIAMS (H.R.) The Gallant Company; TILTON (May) The Grey Battalion; REID (Frank) The Fighting Cameliers; MORROW (Edgar) Iron in the Fire; BURTON (O.E., MM) The Silent Division: New Zealanders at the Front 1914-1919; JONES (T.M.) Watchdogs of the Deep: Life in a Submarine During the Great War; SUTHERLAND (L.W., MC, DCM) Aces & Kings; MONASH (Gen. Sir John) The Australian Victories in France in 1918. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, VG throughout & excellent complete set. See illustrations on our website.   £425
A German Deserter's War Experience. 1st UK Ed., translated by J. Koettgen. 254pp. Grant Richards. 1917  #63251
[HLMainPic] The author, it is stated, 'escaped from Germany after fourteen months of fighting in France... [a] vivid description of the life of a common German soldier in the present war' - Preface. Orig. black cloth, minor wear, VG & scarce. See illustration on our website.   £45
Letters of a Soldier 1914-1915. With an Introduction by A. Clutton-Brock & A Preface by Andre Chevrillon. Authorised translation by V.M. 1st English Ed., xx+191pp. Constable. 1917  #66540
[HLMainPic] Letters of a French volunteer from August 1914 to April 1915 when posted missing in the Argonne. Corner of half-title cutaway (removal of insrcription?) o/w VG.   £35
The Northern Barrage: Mine Force, United States Atlantic Fleet, The North Sea 1918. Edited by All Hands. 1st Ed., 127pp., 4to, photos. & sketches throughout. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute. 1919  #66137
[HLMainPic] Fully illustrated with photos. of all USN vessels & crews of Mine Force, based at Invergordon &c. during this period. Several hundred photos. (inc. shore bases, ships at sea, mining eqpt. in use &c.) + supporting text notes, endorsements &c. Nicely produced record of this work. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, little marked & worn, generally VG. See illustrations on our website.   £65
The Last Lap. By "G," with Preface by E.B.O. 1st Ed., 141pp. VG in chipped dw. Melrose. 1917  #64745
[HLMainPic] Reproduction from the Morning Post of the observations on the Western Front of one who "has served as a war correspondent in many parts of the world & seen the evolution of modern methods with his own eyes." This work is an exhortation to further effort to complete the job, with Victory in sight. Includes chapters on Our Infantry: the then recent Battle of Messines: German Man-Power; The German Moral &c. Interesting & scarce. I believe 'E.B.O.' to be E.B. Osborn, journalist & another writer on military matters, while the identity of 'G' remains elusive to me. Orig. blue cloth, titled in paler blue, VG in chipped dw. Scarce thus. See illustration on our website.   £75
Memoir of Capt. Geoffrey Grenside Bowen, M.C., The Lancashire Fusiliers. 1st Ed., [iii]+121pp., portrait frontis., 2 photos., fldg. map. Printed by Richmond Hill Printing Works, Ltd., Bournemouth. nd [c.1919].  #65271
[HLMainPic] Ed. at Charterhouse 1909-13 & passed into Sandhurst. Commissioned August 1914, Lancashire Fusiliers & joined 3rd (SR) Bn. on the East Coast for a few weeks before being posted to the 2nd Bn. in France in Sept. Wounded 21/10/14 at Le Touquet, near Ploegsteert & returned to England. Back to the 2nd Bn. in Jan. 1915 & on Bde. staff during 2nd Ypres until evacuated with jaundice. On his recovery he was posted to the 19th (S) Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers as adjutant & accompanied them to France in November 1915, but returned to the 2nd Bn. in May 1916. He was wounded on 1/7/16 between Serre & Beaumont Hamel & invalided to England once more; returned in Nov. 1916 & was awarded MC & Mentioned in Despatches for work at Arras in the spring of 1917; later served during 3rd Ypres then attached 2/2nd Lovats Scouts in UK, Nov. 1917-April 1918. Rejoined 2nd Bn. & took part in the Final Advance. He was Killed in Action commanding "B" Coy. in an attack on the Drocourt-Queant Line on 2/9/18. "Granny" Bowen wrote most informative letters to members of his family as well as keeping a daily diary for longish periods. These documents largely make up this book & provide an extremely valuable record of the life of a regular infantry officer in all its facets from the daily routine to active operations, courses of instruction &c. Concludes with letters of condolence from regimental officers, describing his death & burial. Orig. red cloth. leather sp. label, sp. little rubbed & worn o/w VG & inscribed: "Evelyn Barron Christmas 1931. J.C.G. Bowen, Zo. W. Bowen." See illustrations on our website.   £225
Kenneth Gordon Garnett MC, RFA, 30 July 1892-22 August 1917. 1st Ed., 62pp., portrait frontis., 11 plates. Privately printed at the Chiswick Press. 1917  #63213
[HLMainPic] A memoir by his Mother with selections from his letters from the Front followed by customary extracts from obituaries & letters of condolence. Garnett was born in 1892, Ed. at St. Paul's School & Trinity College Cambridge (rowed in the triumphant boat in the 1914 boat race). He was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery in Jan. 1915 & proceeded to France the following month, only to be accidentally wounded in March. He returned to the Front in Oct. 1915 & spent the winter in the Ypres Salient then, on 24th August 1916, during a bombardment of Delville Wood, he was shot in the neck & paralysed. He was convalescent in England for a year before his death from a relapse of his spinal wound & is buried in Wandsworth (Putney Vale) Cemetery. Orig. brown paper covd. boards with wheat cloth backstrip, titled in black to front & spine, VG. See illustration on our website..   £165

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