Ghq Mef (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. A collection of Movement Control (MC) related material for WW2 era Egypt and Palestine, including "Administrative Instructions", "Amendments No. 1", and "Standing Orders". The Instructions, dated Feb 1941, were issued at the end of Operation Compass (9 Dec 1940 - 9 Feb 1941), which had resulted in the destruction of the Italian 10th Army, the recapture of western Egypt, and occupation of Cyrenaica. With this victory, most Allied forces were redeployed to support the defence of Greece under Operation Lustre, leaving only a weak force defending the gains made in North Africa. The Amendments dated 1 April 1941 were issued in the midst of redeployment (March-April). (1) INSTRUCTIONS: "Administrative Instructions for Expeditionary Forces proceeding from the Middle East - Not to be Published", Feb 1941. Original black titled brown cloth 14x21cm. Printed by 512 (A Forward Survey) Company, which was set up in the caves at Tura outside Cairo. 32pp with Appendix III and IV bound together in 1 booklet v pp inserted loosely in front pocket as called for. Covers good with wear to corners and rippling to cloth, interiors and inserts near fine, tanned. No author, "by authority of", or responsible department is indicated, but the diverse range of bodies and locations involved suggests a coordinating role for GHQ Middle East Forces in Cairo, with MC bases located in the Cairo Area, Western Desert, Alexandria Port and Area, Suez Canal Area (Port Said, Ismailia Sub-Area, Suez), Lydda, and Haifa Port and Haifa Area through MC, HQ, Palestine (p23), as well as Field authorities. It contains information on secrecy, maps, pay, store and supply accounts, clothing, rationing, private property, movement to port of embarkation; documents, preparing vehicles, marking baggage, etc with appendices on Standing Orders for OC Troop Trains and instructions on board, reports and returns, marking baggage, and the loosely inserted appendices list clothing, necessities, and additional articles for certain personnel. // (2) AMENDMENTS: "Administrative Instructions etc - Amendments No. 1 - Not to be Published", 1 April 1941, self-wraps 12x19cm, 6pp. No accreditations as above. Fine, tanned. Containing several additions and deletions to the above. // (3) STANDING ORDERS: "Standing Orders for Embarkation of Personnel in the Middle East", GHQ MEF CRME / 1789 / Mov. 1, 1941, PME Rota. 59.D. Copy of typescript, self wraps, 11pp stapled foolscap. Good, lightly creased with wear around lower staple. Explicitly credited to General Headquarters, Middle East Forces, this was issued "to reduce the detail usually contained in Movement Control Orders to the absolute minimum" (p1). Part I covers embarkation, baggage, dress, equipment, command, documentation, duties, finance, posts, arms etc, including Declaration form for personal effects. Also included is a tariff of fares for non-entitled personnel and their families listing several destinations in Africa, Arabia, South Asia and Australasia. Part II covers Special Standing Orders Peculiar to the Evacuation of Prisoners of War. Extremely rare with Worldcat locating only 2 of item (1): Australian War Memorial and UNSW Canberra (OCLC 220686268). Not recorded on Library Hub.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Original lace bound printed wraps 17 x 21cm. Dated Sept 1943, and printed Oct 1943 by Printing & Stationery Services (3 & 4 Mobile Printing Sections) MEF. Printed to rectos only. Wraps very good with patch of scuffing from label removal to the front, and pencil note to the back. Interiors near fine. This has a contents, followed by a series of equipment diagrams, paginated (1)-62. Some items are dated differently. The following items are not present, and do not have page numbers against them in the contents: 1, 4, 5 (pp 6, 10, 11), and 101-110 (listed between p45 and 46). This collates exactly with another copy seen. It is not clear why these items are omitted - possibly outdated or unavailable.

Folio (210 x 345 mm). 22 issues. Together (58), 388 pp. With 2 photographs, 1 plate of graphs showing incidents in Egypt, June-July 1946, 1 folding plan of Persian Azerbaijan, 1 folding plan of Greece and Western Turkey, and 1 folding map of Middle East Intelligence. Original printed stapled wrappers. An intriguing specimen of British post-war intelligence documentation rarely seen in the trade, focussing on but not limited to the Middle East. Based on the Middle Eastern Intelligence services' zones of major responsibility and their spheres of interest (see the map in vol. 100), their reviews cover a vast range of topics. They not only outline the Anglo-Egyptian treaty negotiations and the political situation in Libya, Palestine, and Syria, but also discuss the Arab League (photograph of a meeting of the League in vol. 90), terrorist attacks carried out by Jewish illegal forces in Palestine, the struggle with illegal immigration (a photograph showing a boat of immigrants in vol. 74), and political Zionism. However, the reviews also cover the political and economic situation in Germany, the problem of former Nazi sympathisers regaining positions of power and security (sketched out in the case of "Dr. Drecksacker"), and include an eye-witness report by an SS man employed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, translated into English. British views on Russia make up another significant part, including the reprint of an article by the American journalist Brooks Atkinson, published in the U.S. magazine "Life", accusing Soviet leaders of "group paranoia", as well as analyses of Russian broadcasts with respect to Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, the reviews outline British relations with Greece and the Balkans, France, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey and Kurdistan, Romania, and India, while also discussing the organisation and functions of the U.N. - Despite the imprint indicating a print run of 400 copies, none can be traced on WorldCat. A 12-volume set was sold at Christie's in 2018. - Wrappers have stamps of the "Assistant Director of Medical Service 3rd Divisions". Traces of rust near the staples. The first two pages of vol. 100 loose; a small tear on pp. 9f. of vol. 90, as well as a small flaw to the title-page of vol. 98, neither touching the text. - A rare window into the issues that concerned the British military intelligence following WWII.