[Printed periodical of the British Army in Persia.] Percoms Times. 1919.

Author: 
[British Army in Persia and Mesopotamia, 1919; Percoms; F. N. Stead; Charles Geoffrey Lloyd ('Babu Piche Lal')]
Publication details: 
Basrah [Mesopotamia, now Iraq]: Printed by the Superintendent, Governement Press. 1919.
£165.00
SKU: 15753

14pp., folio. Stapled. In brown wraps with attractive cover illustration of a blockage on a mountain pass by 'D. C. '. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight rust to staples and closed tears to back cover and last leaf. Editorial reads: 'Even had the guns been still roaring on all fronts, I do not think that any apology is needed for the predominantly light, and sometimes flippant, tone of this little number. It is not the habit of the man on the spot to take life too seriously - on its literary side at least. Besides, the rattle of the machine-gun has played very little part on this line, and maunds and kuhrwas, road-making andn mending, Ford vans and Jelus have bulked larger in our imagination than the noise of battle. | On a scattered line of this length, with interests varying from steam-rollers to insect powder, it would be expected that many jokes and allusions are local, but I trust that some of the sallies appeal even to the non-initiated. | With the prevalence of the "Z" epidemic many of the pioneers and contributors are no more. The best wishes of PERCOMS TIMES go with them all, and may they be spared in the fullness of time to receive - a copy. | THE EDITOR.' Prose contributions: 'Kermanshah in War Time' by F. M. Stead; 'Marching with Jilus, by Babu Piche Lal, B.A.' [in fact by Charles Geoffrey Lloyd, who gathered up his 'Babu Piche Lal' letters in two books]; 'Notes on Rugs of West Persia'; 'A Percom's Fantasy'; 'Love's Awakening' by Samedi. Poems by 'E. Flynn, Sergt, 1/4th Hants Regt', 'S. N. D.', 'A. F. C.', '"Peter" (A Pioneer)', 'G. H.'C. J. Edmonds explains the position at the end of the Great War in his 'East and West of Zagros': 'The British forces in North-Western Persia were divided between two independent commands: Percoms, with H.Q. at Kirmanshah, in charge of communications from rail-head at the frontier to Hamadan; and Norperforce, now a large mixed brigade of four infantry battalions'. Only the Imperial War Museum have a holding of this item, and their catalogue entry doesn't clarify how many issues were printed.