[Typescript; autobiographical novel based on writer's experiences in the ambulance service in the 2nd WW; Unpublished] Personnel

"Owen Edwards" [pseud. for Edward Owen Marsh, linguist, author, schoolmaster - translator of Anouilh, Cocteau, Gogol, etc.]

Published by 'Property of: Owen Edwards 112 Fitzjohns Avenue London NW3' Written before when Marsh moved from 112 Fitzjohns Avenue to Tanza Road, 1956

About this Item

Typescript, 242pp., 4to, brown paper wraps, damage to top of spine but no loss, label on front with author ("Owen Edwards") and title. A semi-autobiographical novel based on Marsh's experiences during the Second World War in the London Ambulance Service. Initially a "Notice" "The characters in this book are fictitious. Some of the incidents are naturally based on real happenings during the war but they are none of them wholly accurate[.]". The novel starts with the hero, Lang, joining the Service. Subjects include: the work environment and fellow-workers; routine work on the Station; shifts; London background; women workers (even a "girl driver") ; state of repair of the ambulances; a German colleague; a Welsh colleague; bridge and solo; transporting wounded American soldiers from St Pancras Station; billiards; bedding arrangements (inc. "peephole to the girls' room"); the canteen inc. personnel; a communist; inter-station contests (first-aid etc); "auxiliaries who cracked up in the raids"; incidents during Blitz; practice and lectures; a "biting" lady instructor; hero wrote first aid based doggerel (examples given inc. "The Ballad of the Bones by A. Bonypart", p.99); [.]; "Occurrence Book"; etc., etc. A comprehensive portrait of the ambulance service and its personnel after the Blitz (although Marsh is said to have served during the Blitz.Box 41.

Seller Inventory # 26889

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Typescript; autobiographical novel based on writer's experiences in the ambulance service in the 2nd WW; Unpublished] Personnel
• Publisher: 'Property of: Owen Edwards 112 Fitzjohns Avenue London NW3' Written before when Marsh moved from 112 Fitzjohns Avenue to Tanza Road
• Publication Date: 1956
• Binding: Soft cover