British Second Army (17 results)

Paperback. Condition: Near Fine. 4p. Illustrations. Wraps. Near Fine. Book.

5½'' x 3½''. Divided back. Monochrome post card. Member of the P.B.F.A. POSTCARDS.

Condition: Fine. KOS00600370.

Sm. 4to., with coloured formation signs of twenty-six Second Army units on front wrapper; original printed wrappers, wire-stitched as issued, covers very lightly age-soiled, staples very lightly rusting else a remarkably crisp, bright, clean copy. This humble Order of Service is surely the single document which, for every individual soldier in Dempsey's Second Army, symbolised the end of the gruelling twelve months which lasted from from the beaches of Normandy to the heath at Luneberg and brought the end of war in Europe. The front wrapper carries a striking coloured montage of badges of the major formations involved, comprising Second Army, 1 Corps, 8 Corps, 12 Corps, 30 Corps, Airborne Corps, Guards Armoured Division, 7 Armoured Division, 11 Armoured Division, 3 Infantry Division, 5 Infantry Division, 15 (Scottish) Infantry Division, 43 (Wessex) Infantry Division, 49 (West Riding) Infantry Division, 50 (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, 51 (Highland) Infantry Division, 52 (Lowland) Infantry Division, 53 (Welsh) Infantry Division, 59 (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, 6 Guards Tank Brigade, 4 Armoured Brigade, 8 Armoured Brigade, 27 Armoured Brigade, 33 Armoured Brigade, 34 Armoured Brigade, 115 Independent Infantry Brigade. SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION. Cole reproduces the wrapper in his standard reference 'Heraldry in War' (plate facing p.120).

First edition hard back binding in publisher's original burgundy paper covered boards, silver title and author lettering to the spine. 8vo. 9½'' x 6¼''. 1st Printing with full printer's code number sequence to the copyright page 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Contains 336 printed pages of text with archive monochrome photographs throughout. Slight tanning to the page margins. Very Good condition book in Fine condition price clipped dust wrapper. Dust wrapper supplied in archive acetate film protection. Member of the P.B.F.A. ISBN 9781845967994 WORLD WAR II (Second).

Two pink cloth bandages, in brown cloth packet, roughly 8 x 11 x 2 cm. The contents are described as 'Two Dressings in Waterproof Covers, each consisting of a gauze pad stitched to a bandage and a safety pin.; The printed text, encased within a border, also includes instructions 'To Open' and 'Directions for Use'. The Imperial War Museum has three such dressings (1940, 1942 and 1944), but none with the same date as the present item.

8½'' x 6'' monochrome photograph. The reverse has an attached slip of paper which states 'Not for publication before evening papers of Tuesday March 14th 1944 - Mediterranean Commander Visits Cisterno Front (passed by censor). Relaxing on the front seat of his Jeep, General Sir Harold Alexander, Mediterranean Theatre Commander, was pictured when he arrived at the Cisterno Front for an inspection tour of the Allied Fifth Army positions there. A group of Yank Rangers met General Alexander there.' Small tear to the top edge. Member of the P.B.F.A. PHOTOGRAPHS.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium, folded once. In good condition. 29 lines of text. He thanks her for her kindness, 'in the midst of your great sorrow', in writing to inform the Robertses of her husband's death. 'We have often talked of you both, and wondered where you were living.' He had thought it was 'somewhere in the valley of the Thames, at least I thought you told me so when last I met you both walking in Regent Street - some 10 years ago'. After a brief comment on Tierney's ill health, he recalls how 'He, Alfred Torrens, and I sat next to each other at Mills School. Torrens died a few weeks ago, and now I am the only one left.' He ends by sending his and his wife's condolences, and in a postscript signed 'R' asks to be informed 'should you come to London'. In his 1914 biography, Walter Jerrold writes that between 1842 and 1845 Roberts was 'pupil of a Mr. Mills at Hampton'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On his letterhead of coronet and letter R. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He is sorry to refuse the Duke, 'but I could not really take the chair at a dinner in aid of the Westminster Hospital Funds', as he has 'promised Lord Cadogan to to [sic] act in that capacity in aid of [same?] Chelsea Hospital. Under these circumstances, I am sure you will excuse me.'.

First edition hard back binding in publisher's original tawny brown cloth covered boards, blocked and lettered gilt back. 8vo. 9'' x 5½''. When Belgium capitulated, and he was held in camps in Germany and France. On 10 January 1941, he was repatriated to Belgium. After release in German-occupied Belgium, he met his former colleague sergeant-pilot Léon Divoy, and they briefly planned to build an aircraft with which to escape to England. Contains Sir William Rothenstein frontispiece drawing of Michael Donnet, sketched in 1943, (xi), 108 pp with monochrome archive photographs throughout. Touch of foxing to the text block edges. Very Good condition book in Fine condition dust wrapper, not price clipped. Number 152 of 997 flown cover SIGNED 'Mike Donnet' and Cadet 'Leon Divoy' to the front cover. 13.6.75 Belgium post marked stamp, reverse signed by W. S. O. Randle, Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, + 2 other stamps 'Municipal Airport 14 June, 1975 Southend-on-Sea' and 'Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, 16.6.1975', one cachet insert. Dust wrapper supplied in archive acetate film protection. Housed in Fine condition marble paper covered open-fronted slip case. Member of the P.B.F.A. WORLD WAR II (Second).

15pp., folio. Stapled into pink printed wraps. Title on front cover, with 'MOST SECRET'. Copy number 53 in blue pencil. In fair condition, on browned high-acidity paper. Front cover coming away from rusted staples. At head of first page: 'NOTE: SECURITY | Attention is drawn to the fact that this document is graded "MOST SECRET". It will not be distributed below Lieutenant Colonels' commands.' Contents page divides the document into two parts: 'Equipment' and 'Organisation'. The first part discusses: Light Tanks, Cruiser Tanks, Infantry Tanks, Armoured Cars and Scout Cars, Ammunition, Gunnery and Fire Control, Miscellaneous Equipment. The second part consists of three appendices: 'Command, Control and Rear Link A.F.Vs.', 'Report on Valentine Bridgelayer' and 'The Swabey Sight for use with 75-mm guns in Sherman Tanks'. Scarce: no other copy traced (not in the Imperial War Museum collection). From the Barrie Pitt papers.

65pp., in narrow ruled 32 x 13 cm notebook, with maroon embossed boards and cloth spine. Rankin has etched his initials into the front board. All in pencil, with the first page headed 'NO I LECTURES JAN-FEB. 44 | T M RANKIN. 7394616. 13 F.D.S.', and carrying a numbered list of 38 topics, from 'Observation of Patient' and 'Diet of Disease' to 'Fracture of Spine' and 'Burns'. Four pages of medical notes follow. Upside-down at the other end of the volume are 59 paginated pages of further notes, preceded by a list of a further 15 topics (numbered 39-53), from 'Eye Drops' to 'Rheumatic Fever'. Two autograph test papers by Rankin are loosely inserted, one (1p., 4to) marked at 69 out of 75 and the other (3pp., foolscap 8vo) at 92%. Seven black and white photographs are also loosely inserted, three of them stamped on the reverse 'COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH | "KENT MESSENGER" | (COUNTY PAPER OF KENT)'. The first (11.5 x 16.5) shows a scene within a field hospital; the second (same dimensions) a platoon posing in five rows; the third (16 x 21cm) a larger print of the second; the fourth is a 16 x 20.5cm portrait of a platoon posing in three rows; the fifth is a 13.5 x 24.5cm posed portrait of a 26 individuals in uniform (including six women), a padre, a young girl and a man in civilian clothes, posing on a stage in two rows, with the girl sitting cross-legged at the front; the last photograph is a 14 x 9.5 cm postcard with a full-length image of a smiling nurse, the name 'Flo' written in ink on the reverse.

Fourteen items from the papers of Sir Noel Galway Holmes, all but the last relating to his three decades of service in the British Army, with reports and recommendations by superior officers from 1920 to 1939. (Two more items, relating to Churchill and the Second World War, are offered separately.) Considering Holmes's central position in Churchill's war entourage, and his pivotal role in the logistical management of the Second World War, it is unaccountable that he should not have been accorded a proper biographical account, other than an obituary in the Daily Telegraph, 29 December 1982, and entry in Who Was Who. In Sir Ronald M. Weeks's 'Organisation and Equipment for War' (CUP, 1950) he is referred to in glowing terms: 'We were fortunate in having as D.Q.M.G. (Movements) [NGH's official title was 'Deputy-Quarter-Master-General for Movements'] an Irishman, Major-General Sir Noel Holmes, who held the job throughout the war. Blessed with a sense of humour, a strong constitution (he was an International Rugby footballer), the power of leadership and good judgment, he played no small part in the achievement of victory.' NHG's career was highly distinguished, as his decorations suggest. He joined the army in 1910, served in France during the First World War, and in India between the wars. His Second World War activities were, as the two items offered separately indicate, of vital importance. At the end of the war he spent a few months as commander of Aldershot before retiring from the army in 1946. Some items worn and aged, but complete and legible, in fair overall condition. The fourteen items are placed in what is clearly the envelope in which NGH received the details of his knighthood in the New Years' Honours List of 1946, with stamp of the Lord Chamberlain, St James's Palace, and printed address of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, St. James's Palace, addressed to 'Major General Noel G. Holmes / C.B., C.B.E., M.C., / The Garden House / Kelmead Road / Fleet / Hants'. ONE: [CV, 1910-1939] 'Army Form B. 199A.', giving NGH's personal details (birth, education, ethnicity (Officer: Irish; Officer's Father: Irish; Officer's Mother: Irish), training, and, most prominently, 'Particulars of Service, Records of Movements, Appointments, Promotions, Etc.' from 1 April 1910, when he 'Joined Special Reserve Connaught Rangers' in 'W. Ireland' to 13 February 1939, when he 'Assumed Offg. Command Tull. Brigade Area vice Bdr. Dening (on leave)' in Jullundur. 2pp, folio and 1p, 4to. The great length of the 'Particulars of Service' has led someone to annotate with exclamation mark, at the end of the folio part, '(Continued on attached)!' TWO: Copy of NGH's 'Annual Confidential Report' ('Army Form B. 194') dated from Cologne, 10 August 1920. Signature illegible. Positive report. 1p, folio. THREE: Copy of NGH's 'Annual Confidential Report' ('Army Form B. 194') by 'W. C. G. Henneker, Major Genl. Commdg. British Troops in Upper Silesia', dated 13 September 1921. 2pp, folio. 'I cannot praise Major Holmes sufficiently for the manner in which he carries out his work and I am extremely fortunate in getting him as my A.A. & Q.M.G. I have just recommended him for the Staff College. Apart from his efficiency in his work he is reliable and his advice is sound. I am much indebted to him.' FOUR: Copy of NGH's 'Annual Confidential Report' ('Army Form B. 194.') by Brigadier Hereward Wake, dated 12 September 1931. 2pp, folio. 'He is a first rate staff officer, with exceptional energy & ability and he has a detailed knowledge of his profession. Fit and active in mind and body. I consider he is much above the average of his rank well fitted for command, and that his early promotion (he has held a Brevet Majority since 1919) would be of advantage to the service. / He would make a useful instructor at The Staff College'. FIVE: 'Certified true Copy' of NGH's 'Annual Confidential Report' ('Army Form B. 194.'). Report by NGH's 'Immediate Commander' Lt C.

Condition: Fine. First edition full black crushed cape levant morocco by Zaehnsdorf, the spine divided into six panels, lettered in the second and third, cannon design to the front cover in gilt with orange and red onlay, all page edges gilt, gilt crown lines and silk headbands, ruled gilt board edges, wide gilt turn-ins, stamp signed in gilt on front turn-in 'Bound by Zaehnsdorf, London, England', brown, cream and beige marble end sheets. 4to. 10'' x 7¼''. Hand written number 154 of 265 (numbers 251-265 were not for sale) Limited Edition copies SIGNED by the author 'Montgomery of Alamein' to the limitation leaf. Contains 584 printed pages of text with colour plates, maps and battle plans throughout. Fine condition book in publisher's original clamshell, fleece lined cream cloth covered case with later title labels to the spine, with small handling marks to the case. Heavy volume weighing 2.5 kg, extra postage and insurance will be requested over and above our default setting for destinations outside the UK. Member of the P.B.F.A. WORLD WAR II (Second).

7½'' x 4½'' No. 979 of 1000 Limited Edition British East African Campaign | 19 January - 27 November 1941 Flown Cover flown cover SIGNED to the front cover 'Eric Wilson V.C.' Certification signed by Group Captain W. S. O. Randle to the rear + three cachet inserts + 5'' x 3'' white card SIGNED 'Eric Wilson V.C. | Somaliland Camel Corps'. Most unusual for E. C. T. Wilson to have added 'Somaliland Camel Corps' underneath his autograph. Two Certificates of Authenticity (one for each signature) also enclosed. The formal citation for Wilson's VC, published in the London Gazette in October 1940 when he was still presumed dead, reads: 'The KING has been pleased to approve of the award of The Victoria Cross to: Lieutenant (acting Captain) Eric Charles Twelves Wilson, The East Surrey Regiment (attached Somaliland Camel Corps). For most conspicuous gallantry on active service in Somaliland. Captain Wilson was in command of machine-gun posts manned by Somali soldiers in the key position of Observation Hill, a defended post in the defensive organisation of the Tug Argan Gap in British Somaliland. Member of the P.B.F.A. VICTORIA CROSS AWARDS.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Each of the two letters is 1p, 4to, with the Prince's letter on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, and the Earl's signed autograph copy of his reply on the recto of the second leaf of the same bifolium. Both leaves are discoloured and damaged, with wear and loss from infestation, but the two signatures and the area around them are good and clear. The document has been folded twice for postage. Strip of white tape along gutter of blank reverse of second leaf from mount. ONE (Frederick's ALS): Fifteen lines. Reads: 'My Dear Lord / I trust that You will excuse my troubling You with this Letter in favor of a young man to whose Father I am under very particular Obligations, He is Son to my fri[end] [.] Adam, and having been as I understand irregularly promoted in the East Indies to the Command of the Carysfort Frigate, has been of course Superceded by the Admiralty and obliged to return home. Were it possible for You my dear Lord to promote Him to the Rank of Master and Commander I should feel myself highly gratified, and am [convinced?] that the Young Man will not disgrace my recommendation as He has always given great Satisfaction to the Officers under whom He has served, and particularly distinguished Himself [a]s a Volunteer in assisting to quell the Mutiny at the Cape / Believe me ever My Dear Lord / Yours most sincerely / Frederick'. TWO (Spencer's Signed Autograph Copy of his reply): Twelve lines. Addressed to 'H. A. Hs. The Duke of York.' and 'sgd. / Spencer'. Reads: 'Sir / I am very much concerned that it is not in my power in this Instance to obey your Royal Highness's Commands by giving a Commission of Master & [Commander] [.] Adam; that Gentleman not being at present by the Rules of the Navy qualified even to receive a Lieutenant's Commission, previous to which it is an invariable Custom that he should pass an Examination before the Navy Board, which, as I am informed, he has not yet had an opportunity of doing. / When he shall have gone through that necessary Ceremony, I shall be very happy to give him a Commission of Lieutenant on an early opportunity, but before he can with propriety obtain the Rank of Commander he must serve at least for a time in the Capacity of a Lieutenant. / I have the Honour to be / Sir / your Royal Highness's / most dutiful / & obedient Servant / sgd. / Spencer'.

An interesting intimate letter from the Duke of York, credited with having done more to reform the British Army than any other man, to the future Prime Minister Grenville, who at the time was Paymaster General of the Forces. Of particular note is the Duke's desire to go to war, 'for I am sure we never have had for these two Centuries so favourable an opportunity of humbling France'. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. Folded three times. Sixty-one lines of text. After explaining that he delayed writing in order that his letter arrive after that of General Bude, he states that he has been at Allerton for a week and likes the place 'exceedingly. Indeed it in every respect surpasses my expectations it is a sweet spot and [?] in a beautiful Country, the House is good though not large, and with very trifling Alterations, will become very Comfortable, I have the advantage of having a very good neighbourhood'. The previous day 'five Companies of the Welsh [sic] fusiliers passed through here upon their March to Chatham Barracks. I desired them to halt and gave a breakfast to both Officers and Men, and had the Officers afterwards to dinner.' He assesses the division, commending the commanding officer as 'a very sensible steady Officer', and finding the officers a 'very young and really a wonderfull [sic] good body'. The second division are to pass through on the following day, 'and I intend to ask them likewise'. He continues: 'You can not expect news from me here, who am above two hundred miles from the Capital I trust and hope however still that we shall have war, for I am sure we never have had for these two Centuries so favourable an opportunity of humbling France'. He is concerned that it is 'quite an Age' since he heard from Grenville, and begins to be afraid that he has 'not yet recovered Your Sea Expedition'. (The Oxford DNB states that Grenville 'went to The Hague and to Paris in 1787 to advise the cabinet on a conflict in the United Provinces between the Orange and patriot parties which threatened the European equilibrium'.) He discusses a house in Whitehall he is thinking of buying, 'which will suit me in every respect, it is belonging to Sir Harry Featherstone [i.e. Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh (1754-1846], and is at present occupied by Lord Amherst'. He has had 'Lake' contact 'Sir Harry' about it, and considers it would suit his purposes, 'being in a manner upon the parade, and so near to St James's, Queen's House, Carlton House &c secondly its size having a Sufficient number of apartments to see Company'. From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.