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Great Britain’s Home Guard 1940-1944 - Part I Great Britain’s Home Guard 1940-1944: Mainly Individual Unit Histories   9 Books
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BEST (Robert D.) Comp. A Short Life & A Gay One: A Biography of Frank Best, 1893-1917. 1st Ed., 2 Vols. dup. typescript with card covs. & spiral bindings, xii+183 & 267pp., num. photos. & maps. Edgbaston, Birmingham, The Compiler. 1967  #67337
[HLMainPic] Francis Behrens Best, Lt., 19 Sqdrn RFC, formerly ASC, was KiA 29/7/17 & is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. A substantial illustrated memoir of the compiler's younger brother (compiler also served on the Western Front, as an observer with the RAF in 1918) based on his own youthful recollections & Frank's letters & diaries, family albums & papers. An extremely interesting record of the brothers' Great War service, in training & during active service. Privately published in an edition of 200 copies. Errata slip loosely inserted. Inscribed by compiler "To Frank from Bob Sept. 1970." See illustrations on our website.   £275
BRECKENRIDGE (William) From Vimy to Mons: A Historical Narrative by William Breckenridge, ex 42nd Canadian Black Watch, Canadian Expeditionary Force. 254pp., dup. typescript, large format (275x220mm approx.) compiled by the author in 1919 but issued by him in this duplicated form in 1957.  #66441
[HLMainPic] A rare personal memoir of service with the 42nd Bn. CEF in France & Flanders, compiled by the author in 1919 but not circulated by him until 1957, & then presumably in a limited edition. He was a signaller & joined his battalion with a draft in 1916. Foreword states: "Of the many stories that have been written about wars but few of them have given the truth concerning the suffering & hardships that the front line fighting infantrymen are called upon to endure.. In this story I have endeavoured throughout to give the front line fighting infantryman's account... I have given the plain facts regarding the actualities of battle, naturally as I, in my own small way, saw them, & every statement or fact about any incident mentioned can be accepted as true... I have served on more than three dozen front line sectors... from Ypres to Amiens... I was fortunate to pass through many of the principal battles with the first wave of attacking troops & return unscarred... many dear friends fell... I saw my regiment decimated five times - at Vimy, Passchendaele, Amiens, Arras & Cambrai... Every trench that I have mentioned, & the dates given, are genuine... The official signalling messages & documents that I refer to are in my possession & are the original papers that were actually received in the trenches, & the names of the persons used are not fictitious..." The Contents include: Going to the Front; Life in the Trenches; Battle of Vimy Ridge; Dodging Trench Mortars in Avion; Fritz Uses Mustard Gas...; Almost Drowned in Flanders Mud; The Great Battle of Amiens; Smashing the Hindenburg Line, &c., & the whole piece is informative, well-written & gripping: a fine personal account. Issued by the author in card wraps., this copy bound in handsome black cloth with gilt title to sp., with author presentation inscription: "To Mr C.E. Dornbusch, The Author, William Breckenbridge." See illustrations on our website.   £350
BUNDY (Alfred Edward) Copy of Original War Diary of A.E. Bundy. [iii]+[52]pp. duplicated typescript (rectos only), 4to (248x200mm), portrait frontis., reproduction of diarist's commission & MiD certificate on one plate at front, reproductions of 11 of the diarist's war sketches on 8 artpaper leaves at end. Assembled by the diarist, 1935  #66427
[HLMainPic] Rare & certainly privately circulated in a limited number, war memoirs of Alfred Edward Bundy, who enlisted in the Inns of Court OTC in May 1915, commissioned in the Middlesex Regt. in September of that year, advanced to Lt. then Capt. in 1916, Major in April 1919 & demobilised October 1919. He served in France from June-December 1916 with 2nd Middlesex, invalided sick & was employed in UK until posted to Salonica, November 1917 & after some time at the Summerhill Camp base joined the 2nd King's Own Royal Lancaster at the Struma Front, invalided from there July 1918, then returned there - to his disgust - for a few more months 1918-19. Mentioned in Despatches. Interesting record of service: with impeccable timing Bundy joined his battalion on 28th June 1916, just in time to take his platoon in 'C' Coy. into battle at La Boisselle in the first wave on the fateful 1st July 1916: "Went over the top at 5.30 a.m. [sic] after what seemed an interminable period of terrible apprehension. Our artillery seemed to increase in intensity & the German guns opened up on No Man's Land. The din was deafening, the fumes choking & visibility limited owing to the dust & clouds caused by exploding shells. It was a veritable inferno. I was momentarily expecting to be blown to pieces. My platoon continued to advance in good order without many casualties & until we had reached nearly half way to the Boche front line. I saw no sign of life there. Suddenly however an appalling rifle & machine gun fire opened against us & my men commenced to fall. I shouted 'down' but most of those that were still not hit had already taken what cover they could fine. I dropped in a shell hole & occasionally attempted to move... but bullets were forming an impenetrable barrage & exposure of the head meant certain death... in all directions came pitiful groans & cries of pain... my water bottle had been pierced with a bullet..." After dark he made a dash for the British line where he found his company commander "almost insane" so he took charge of the remainder of 'C' Coy., just 30 men left. The 2nd Middlesex suffered 22 officer & around 600 other ranks casualties that day. Bundy appears to have been one of two officers to come out unscathed. He remained with the bn. at the Front til invalided at the end of the year, later served Salonika, of which he leaves interesting accounts of various operations. The diaries are supplemented by reproductions of eleven of Bundy's pencil & water-colour sketches executed in France & Salonika. Nicely got-up, probably by a secretarial agency, & bound in brown cloth covd. boards with rounded corners, gilt repro. of diarist's signature to front, VG or fine apart from small damp patch to rear cover which has caused sl. wrinkling of a few of the plates at the end, with presentation inscrip. "Charles Raymond with Compliments & Kind Regards from A.E. Bundy Dec. 1935." [Note: the recipient was director of the Empire Theatre at Leicester Square while Bundy (1870-1942) was, among extensive business interests, Chairman of British Instructional Films Ltd.] See illustrations on our website.   £475
COUSLAND (Kenneth H., MC) The Great War 1914-1918: A Former Gunner of the First World War Looks Back. [xiv]+204pp., printed card wraps., 4to, dup. typescript, portrait frontis., 33 photos., real photo. col. plate of author's medals (MC, 1914 Star trio [although entitled to 1914-15 Star], French & Belgian Croix de Guerre), 2 maps. Privately compiled by the author in Canada, c.1974.  #66548
[HLMainPic] Cousland was Ed. at George Watson's College & in August 1914 was at Edinburgh University, where he was a member of the OTC. He applied for a commission & was posted to the 1st City of Edinburgh Battery: after various courses he served in France from Sept. 1915 where he spent two months; then posted back to England to command C Battery, 325th Brigade; to France again in May 1916 with 17th Battery, 6th London Field Artillery Brigade until wounded the following month. Returned to France in May 1917 with 383 Battery & participated in operations at Vimy, Lens, Hill 70 &c. November 1917 was spent at a Battery Commander's Course at Shoeburyness, then in France 1917-18 inc. Welsh Ridge (Cambrai), German attack at St. Quentin in March 1918, Battles of Amiens & Final Advance. Three times wounded, three times MiD, MC &c. An in-depth record of his various services based on his diary & letters home, including excellent recollections of service life, various operations & training procedures. Various details of artillery work are contained in appendices. Produced to a high standard: the portrait frontis. & other photos. reproduced on art paper. VG throughout & signed by author on title page, & presumably printed in a very small edition for family circulation. See illustrations on our website.   £275
GOLD (A.H.) Comp. World War I Letters 1914-1918: C.G., P.H.G., A.H.G. Approx. 200pp. dup. typescript (versos only), A4 format. c.1970.  #65967
[HLMainPic] WW1 letters 1914-1916 (despite the cover title) of the three sons of Argo & Mary Gold, i.e., Cecil Argo Gold (the subject of a memorial volume privately printed in 1916). Patrick Hugh Gold & Alec Henry Gold (the last survivor & the compiler of this volume). The brothers were Ed. at Eton & soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 all three received commissions in the 5th Bn. Berkshire Regiment (T.F.). Cecil was KiA 3rd July 1916 on the Somme; Patrick was wounded on 13th Oct. 1915 at Hulluch & served the rest of the war in England; Alec was invalided from France at the same time, & after some time as an instructor in Ireland was posted GHQ 3rd Echelon at Alexandria, Egypt, where he saw out the war. All three brothers' letters from the line in 1915 (& Cecil's in 1916) contain interesting descriptions of trench conditions, &c., as well as presenting an interesting picture of a family at war. The letters complement one-another in their descriptions of events: Pat & Alec in "B" Coy. shared many experiences while Cecil in "D" adds a different angle. From time to time other family members & friends serving in France are mentioned. An ink note by Alec (dated 1978), inserted at the front of this volume, gives something of the background to the brothers' services & explains that their father had copies of their letters bound in five volumes some time after the war, of which this book is a copy of Vols. I-III, i.e., up to the death of Cecil & the consequent cessation of the family's services with the 5th Berkshires. Duplicated typescript, red cloth binding with gilt title to front, a substantial volume, VG & undoubtedly one of a very small number of copies made. See illustrations on our website.   £375
GRAYSTONE (Philip & Paul) Eds. The Diary of Private James William Graystone, 10th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, March to June 1916. 1st Ed., orig. limp wraps., dup. typescript, [iv]+113pp., A4 format, several illus. Privately circulated. nd (c.1980)  #67036
[HLMainPic] The extant portion of Pte. Graystone's diary, describing (with interesting detail) his services in France until the eve of the Battle of the Somme. Edited & circulated by his son. VG. See illustration on our website.   £50
JOHNSTON (Stanley R.) Memories of World War One 1914-1918. [iii]+26pp. dup. typescript (rectos only), approx. 20 photos., A4 format, retained in stiff card covers with paper label to front.  #67438
[HLMainPic] Privately circulated personal recollections of a Canadian who proceeded overseas in Dec. 1915 with the Canadian Army Service Corps (CASC, dubbed: Come And Shovel Coal) in the 3rd Canadian Division; arrived in England & spent two months at Bramshott Camp until posted to France in Feb. 1916. He provides an interesting description of their reception in England & of conditions on farms in rural France, & of ASC work taking provisions from railhead to battalion HQs. In May 1917 he discovered that as he was a pre-war University student he was entitled to apply for a commission, accordingly was sent to Bexhill for officer training & returned to France in September. Posted to the 78th Bn. CEF in the 9th Brigade, 4th Division, he took over command of Number 4 Platoon & served in the line at Ypres &c., describing the routine of relief & other events, including being gassed, with observations on the nature of war &c. interspersed. Reproduction of photos. as photocoipies reneders them very indistinct, altough still of interest, o/w VG. See illustrations on our website.   £85
JUPE (A.A.) Round the World With the P.B.I. An Address to The Society of Feelances, Brighton, 13th January, 1959. 18pp., dip. typsecript (approx. words), orig. printed wraps.  #66476
[HLMainPic] Brief but interesting unpublished account of the author's Great War service with the 9th Hampshires, mainlky in India (some time on the NWF) then finally some active servuice in North Russia, 1918-1919. Orig. printed wraps. with typed title to front & & black cloth backstrip, VG, signed in pencil by author on front wrap. See illustration on our website.   £60
WARSOP (A.C., Notts. & Derby Regiment) One Man's War. 1st Ed., orig. limp wrap., dup. typescript, 15pp., foolscap. Privately circulated. nd (1965)  #67037
[HLMainPic] Warsop enlisted in the Robin Hoods (Notts. & Derby Regt., TF) in March 1915, sent to France in August 1916 where he served as a runner with the 1st Bn. of his regiment for a yeat until wounded at Passchendaele. A short but interesting memoir of WW1 compiled for his grandson. Wrap. creased, generally VG. See illustration on our website.   £50

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