CORPS

[The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC).] 'Restricted' information document, duplicated typescript with illustrations.

Author: 
[The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC)]
Publication details: 
Communications Wing, School of Armour, Army Training Group, Waiouru [New Zealand]. 2 November 1975.
£100.00

6pp., 8vo. On three leaves stapled together, with punch holes for ring binder. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With 'RESTRICTED' at head and foot of each page. Corps badge at head of first page and six illustrations in text. Divided into 24 sections, with headings: Formation; Early History; The First World War; The Second World War; Post War; Alliances; The Badge; Corps Colours; Dress Distinctions; Corps Day; Official Music; Patron Saint; Corps Motto. Written in a no-nonsense style. For example, the final two sections read: 'Patron Saint | 23.

Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Corps News.

Author: 
Royal Army Medical Corps, British Salonika Force, World War I
Publication details: 
February, 1917. ['British Salonika Force. General Headquarters, British Salonika Force, December 1, 1916.']
£100.00

8vo: 36 pp, paginated [17] to 52. Disbound and unbound. Grubby, but with text clear and entire. Outer bifolium in poor condition. Lacking stitching, so with each bifolium loose. Mainly consisting of lists of individuals receiving awards.

Anonymous manuscript First World War narrative poem titled 'The Message of the King', concerning a blinded soldier who asks a doctor to kill him.

Author: 
[First World War dramatic monologue; Royal Army Medical Corps, Delhi Barracks, Tidworth, Wiltshire]
Publication details: 
[RAMC Delhi Barracks, Tidworth, Wiltshire.] Circa 1918.
£80.00

Four pages, 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged ruled paper, with watermark 'D. K & Co. | LONDON'. Sixty-four lines, arranged in eight eight-line stanzas. Apparently unpublished. Evocative of the sensibilities of a more naive age: sincerely meant, but coming across somewhat in the style of a Stanley Holloway monologue.

[Offprint, 'Reprinted by kind permission of "The Morning Post."'] [on cover:] The True Story of the Tank [drophead title:] A Miscarriage of Justice. | How the Tank was devised. | Lord Kitchener's Foresight.

Author: 
[Captain Bede John Francis Bentley (1878-1939), Royal Army Service Corps, claimed inventor of the tank; Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener [Lord Kitchener] (1850-1916)]
Publication details: 
On cover: 'Morning Post. [London] | Wednesday, August 9 [1922].' At rear: 'Printed by St. Clements Press, Ltd., Portugal Street, Kingsway, W.C.2.'
£65.00

[2] + 11 + [1]pp., 12mo. Printed in black on cream paper, with the wraps printed in blue in 'Stop Press' style. In very good condition, with minor spotting from staples. Presumably printed up by Bentley himself, and taking the story of his claim to 29 March 1922, the Home Office response to his petition to the king. The text begins: 'When Earl Kitchener called in Captain Bentley, a pioneer of motor transport, to embody in actual design the famous car which became known in the war a a "Tank," he promised that his interests as an inventor would be safeguarded.

[John Campbell, 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Breadalbane.] Autograph Letter Signed to him from Archibald Campbell ('Archd. Campbell') of Edinburgh, reporting on matter relating to Breadalbane's Highland Fencible Corps, the Breadalbane Fencibles.

Author: 
John Campbell (1762-1834), 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Breadalbane, Scottish landowner [Archibald Campbell; the Highland Fencible Corps; Breadalbane Fencibles]
Publication details: 
Edinburgh; 16 July 1798.
£140.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. Address, with two postmarks, on additional leaf. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter contains references to Sir Ralph Abercromby, Sir Benjamin Dunbar, Lord McDonald, Lord Stonefield, the Duke of York, 'Mr. Geddes' and 'McGrigor'. It begins: 'Yesterday being Sunday I was prevented from doing any business, or leaving Town, before this day - I called on my friend Mr. Geddes to day, & communicated to him the reason of my absence from the Reg[imen]t.

Five poems by Captain H. W. Windsor Aubrey, R.A.M.C.: two holographs (including 'The Yellow Peril. Dedicated to the German Emperor'), one with typed copy, two others typed and one mimeographed; four concerning Delhi Barracks, Tidworth.

Author: 
Captain Henry Wentworth Windsor Aubrey (c.1859-1934), M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. [R.A.M.C. Delhi Barracks, Tidworth, Wiltshire; Brimstone Bottom]
Publication details: 
One of the six items on R.A.M.C. letterhead, Delhi Barracks, Tidworth, Salisbury Plain [Wiltshire]; dated 20 February 1918. Four of the others also 1918, and the sixth 1904.
£180.00

Henry Wentworth Windsor Aubrey was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Dorset Regiment Militia on 21 April 1875, and resigned his commission three years later. He qualified as a Doctor in 1885 and practiced in Clifton, where he was a keen cricketer and golfer. During the First World War he served in the RAMC, reaching the rank of Temporary Captain (Home) on 1 December 1917. The six items (including Item Four, a typescript of Item Three) are in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper.

Copy of printed War Office model 'RULES OF THE ---- VOLUNTEER CORPS.' [i.e. Volunteer Force] With details of the committee members under Viscount Ranelagh responsible for 'drafting model Rules and Regulations for the government of Volunteer Corps'.

Author: 
[The Rifle Volunteer Corps; The Volunteer Force, 1859-1908; The War Office, Whitehall; Sidney Herbert (1810-1861), 1st Baron Herbert of Lea, Secretary of State for War, 1859-1861; Viscount Ranelagh]
Publication details: 
'WAR OFFICE, 10th August, 1859.' ['V General No. 469'.]
£120.00

5pp., folio. In very good condition on lightly-aged paper. Copies of this document were sent by the War Office to the officers commanding the various corps, the Secretary of State considering that it would 'assist [them] in preparing Regulations for the government of the Corps under [their] Command'. For a full account of the subject see Hugh Cunningham's 'The Volunteer Force: A Social and Political History, 1859-1908' (1975). The cover page has in its top left-hand corner: 'V | General No. | 469', and carries a table of contents.

Four printed War Office documents relating to the formation of the Volunteer Force [called 'Rifle Volunteer Corps' and 'Volunteer Corps'], comprising a draft of the 'Rules', two printed circulars from Sidney Herbert and one from his secretary.

Author: 
[The Rifle Volunteer Corps; The Volunteer Force, 1859-1908; The War Office, Whitehall; Sidney Herbert (1810-1861), 1st Baron Herbert of Lea, Secretary of State for War, 1859-1861; Viscount Ranelagh]
Publication details: 
All four documents from the War Office [Whitehall, London]. The three circulars dated 8 September, 14 October and 20 December 1859; the 'Rules' dated 10 August 1859.
£280.00

The four items in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. For a full account of the subject see Hugh Cunningham's 'The Volunteer Force: A Social and Political History, 1859-1908' (1975). Item One: 'RULES OF THE ---- VOLUNTEER CORPS.' 5pp., folio (paginated to 6). The cover page has in its top left-hand corner: 'V | General No. | 469', and carries a table of contents.

Copy of Typed Letter from Major Antony Brett-James to Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, recalling his wartime experiences with the 5th Indian Division Signals, while discussing 'what makes a good division'.

Author: 
Major Antony Brett-James (1920-84), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, lecturer at Sandhurst [Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks (1895-1985), commander of XXX Corps in the Second World War]
Publication details: 
82 Barnet Way, Mill Hill, NW7 [London]. 28 January 1953.
£56.00

3pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed by Brett-James in pencil at the head of the first page to 'Lt Gen Sir Brian Horrocks' and with one manuscript correction. The letter begins: 'I do want to say how interesting and worthwhile I found the broadcast discussion last Sunday evening about the factors which make a good division. All that was said was true and most stimulating, but there are a few points which I should like to add.

Mimeographed typed British Salonica Army concert party programme: '738 M.T. Company A.S.C. Programme. Slip Your Clutch. A Revue In Three Acts by 2nd Lt. J. A. Lincoln Reed.'

Author: 
2nd Lt J. A. Lincoln Reed [Captain George Malleson Butt (1880-1936) of the Army Service Corps; British Salonica Army; Balkans]
Publication details: 
[British Salonica Army; Balkans.] 1917.
£40.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. Mimeographed typescript in purple ink. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Title page reads: '738 M. T. Company A. S. C. | 1917 | Programme. | Slip your Clutch. | A Revue | In Three Acts | by | 2nd Lt. J. A. Lincoln Reed.' The second page carries a 'Synopsis of Scenery': 'Act I A Village Green in Blightly | Act II Scene I - Mikra Bay | Scene II - Serres Road | Act III Interior of the Follies Bergeres Night Cafe Salonique (out of bounds)'. Also the announcement: 'The entire production by members of 738 MET.

Eleven issues of 'O.B.C. (Old Boys' Corps) Magazine'. With sheet music of the 'Double-Double Cold Platoon. A Dolorous Dittie' , written by 'Blank File', composed by 'Left Incline'. Also two loose plans of 'Wembley Camp' and north and south district.

Publication details: 
'Printed and Published (for the Old Boys' Corps) by JOHN PROCTOR, at 33, 34, & 35, Fish Street Hill in the City of London.' Between 1914 and 1916.
£450.00

The eleven issues are: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15. Each issue is 32pp., small 4to, with a further 4pp. of plates on two leaves, and numerous illustrations in text. The last six issues, from no.7 (June 1915) to no. 15 (June to October 1916) are in fair condition, in their original worn printed wraps; the first five are in poorer condition, with issues 1 and 2 lacking wraps and with stained outer pages, and issue 3 with the covers loose and separated from one another; in addition, issue 2 has a jagged closed tear to the first leaf.

Manuscript of the United States Corps of Cadets anthem 'Benny Havens, Oh!', dated 'As sung by the U.S. Corps Cadets | 1864'. With explanatory introduction in manuscript, and with the '22nd. verse written at the beginning of the [American Civil] war'.

Author: 
Lieutenant Lucius O'Brien; Ripley Allen Arnold (1817-1853) [Corps of Cadets, United States Military Academy, West Point; Benny Havens (c.1787-1877)]
Publication details: 
[On West Point letterheads?] 1864.
£250.00

8pp., 12mo. On four bifoliums, placed inside one another to make a booklet. Each bifolium with embossed [West Point?] letterhead of a letter 'W' within a shield. A fair copy, with the title reading: 'Benny Havens, Oh! | as sung | by the | U.S. Corps Cadets - | 1864.' The twenty-two line introduction covers the whole of the second page.

Carbon copy of manuscript.

Author: 
Stunts by Fag End': contemporaneous account of first world war experiences by unidentified writer.
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£100.00

3 pages, 8vo. On three leaves of paper, all creased, discoloured and worn, with a few tears and pin holes. Lively, humorous, and well-written account of the army career of a skiver. 'Behold me then the next time in the trenches a Lewis Gunner, my-self to be about to kill Bosches in neat little trenches of 47. As a matter of fact I did not kill one as I never fired the gun but we had one or two thrilling times. [...] January 1st. 1917 I became a member of the now famous Tank Corps.

Small archive of official documents, newspaper cuttings, photographs and manuscript material relating to his war experiences.

Author: 
Gerard Guttman [ Algeria; Les Prestataires; Foreign Labour Company; British Expeditionary Force; Pioneer Corps; the Holocaust ]
Publication details: 
1940-83.
£300.00

An extremely interesting and moving if frail survival: items of various sizes, many discoloured, creased, frayed and stained. The first item, 'THE HISTORY OF THE PRESTATAIRES IN ALGERIA. | Dedicated by one of them to the Major, recruiter of Pioneers for the 337 Alien Coy. in Hussein Dey.' (two typewritten A4 leaves, both backed with grey card), dated 'Kenadza, 28 February 1943', explains how 'Before June 1940 there were more than 3,000 of us who did our duty in the fight against the onslaught of the Axis.

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
General James Harold Doolittle
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

Distinguished and much-decorated American general (1896-1993), who during World War II led a squadron of army bombers in a series of intrepid raids on the Japanese mainland. In good condition. On a piece of paper 3 inches by 5 inches.

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