Historically Significant Extensive Collection of Three Albums with over 200 Original Gelatin Silver Studio and Amateur Photographs, Taken and Collected by a Pilot of the Royal Air Force during His Service in the 208th (Army Cooperation) RAF Squadron, Stationed on the Ismailia Air Base near Cairo in the 1920s ? early 1930s. Ca. 1920s ? early 1930s.

EGYPT & SUDAN ? ROYAL AIR FORCE

Published by Publication Date: 1920

Three albums. Album 1. Oblong Folio album (ca. 28,5x36,5 cm or 11 ¼ x 14 ¼ in). 24 card stock leaves. With 96 mounted original gelatin silver photos, including over twenty large images from ca. 20x28 cm (7 ¾ x 11 in) to ca. 16x21,5 cm (6 ¼ x 8 ¼ in); the rest of the photos (some are real photo postcards) are from ca. 13x18 cm (5x7 in) to ca. 9x12 cm (3 ½ x 4 ½ in). All but a few photos with period white ink captions on the mounts; two large images of the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx with the compiler's extensive ink notes on verso. Period brown quarter cloth album with papered boards, fastened with a string. Binding rubbed on extremities, spine and corners with tears and minor losses, several mounts and photos with minor creases, a few photos mildly faded, but overall a very good album with strong interesting photos. Album 2. Oblong Folio album (ca. 23,5x32,5 cm or 9 ¼ x 12 ¾ in). 24 card stock leaves with tissue guards. With 48 mounted large original gelatin silver photos, from ca. 18x24 cm (7 x 9 ½ in) to ca. 16x21 cm (6 ¼ x 8 ¼ in). Over twenty photos with period ink or pencil captions on verso, several images are also dated from 1924 to 1929 on verso. Period brown full cloth album fastened with a string. Binding rubbed on extremities, several tissue guards with tears, a few photos mildly faded, but overall a very good album with strong interesting photos. Album 3. Oblong Quarto album (ca. 19,5x27 cm or 9 ½ x 10 ½ in). 24 card stock leaves with tissue guards. With 63 mounted original gelatin silver photos, including 31 larger images from 16x21 cm (6 ¼ x 8 in) to ca. 13x17,5 cm (5x7 in); the rest of the photos are ca 8x12 cm (3 ¼ x 4 ¾ in). All but a few photos with period white ink captions on the mounts. Period brown full cloth album fastened with a string. Binding rubbed on extremities, the string is broken, so several leaves at the rear are loosely inserted, several tissue guards with creases or tears, a few photos mildly faded, one photo was possibly previously removed, but overall a very good album with strong interesting photos. Historically significant, well-annotated collection of over 200 original gelatin silver photographs illustrating the service of the 208th (Army Cooperation) Squadron of the Royal Air Force, stationed on the Ismailia Air Base in the Kingdom of Egypt in the 1920s ? early 1930s. The collection was most likely assembled by one of the squadron's pilots and includes over twenty photos of various RAF aircraft: "Avro 504 N training machine," "[Imperial] Airway's ?Horsa,'" "Vickers Victoria, troop carrier, long-distance bomber," interior of a "cabin of a Vic," "Vic formation," "Farey Gordon" light bomber, "Fokker with Wright Whirlwind engine at Cairo on its way to Kenya colony," a Vickers Vellore biplane, "woodcock, [Jubilee?] engine, single seater, showing differential slot wing control," "Avro Andover" &c. There are also images of burning planes on an airfield, "the remains of 4883 after the fire in 26/4/29," and a scene of "Vernon crash at Iraq, 7 killed." Several images show the aircraft in flight taken from other planes: "III Fs. in formation (45 Sqnd, Helouan [Helwan, Cairo])," "BIF over Mustapha bks," "Formation of BIFs over HMS Revenge," "III F's over Khartoum," "Vic formation over Pyramids," "III's over Sudan," and "formation flying over Lake Timsah, 1925." Three excellent aerial views show "R.A.F. station, Heliopolis, from 2000 ft.," "4 F.T.S., Abu-Sueir" (Abu Suweir Air Base west of Ismailia), and "station ?90' en route to Khartoum." A group portrait depicts the squadron members and commanders posing in front of their planes. There is also a photo of "b Flight, 208 (ac) squadron, Ismailia. Pilot & crew of the 1927 Lloyd Reliability trial" (posing in front of a biplane, names and ranks of all men identified), and a scene with pilots and crew in the desert, captioned "early morning tea on the Blue at the forced landing." A series of twenty-two smaller photos documents "9762's second e. Seller Inventory # PE41

Bibliographic Details

Title: Historically Significant Extensive ...
Publication Date: 1920
Binding: None
Condition: None