[Christmas Card from the British Expeditionary Force, France, 1939.] Lithographed Christmas Card, with 'B.E.F.' and Spearhead Badge of 1 British Corps, and illustration by 'L. D. C.' of White Cliffs of Dover, France, military convoy, army camp.

A nice piece of Second World War ephemera, of which no other copy has been traced. 1 British Corps formed part of the B.E.F., travelling to France in September 1939, and withdrawing from Dunkirk at the 'Darkest Hour' in May 1940. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Lithographed in black on the four sides of a 9.5 x 15 cm bifolium. Two parallel diagonal red lines printed at top left of front cover, which also carries the Spearhead badge of 1 British Corps at centre, above 'B.E.F.' in a scroll, with 'Christmas – 1939' at bottom left. Printed on the verso of the first leaf are the words: '”A Merry Christmas | and a | Happy New Year!” | FROM ['Gordon' here in manuscript]'. The recto of the second leaf carries a full-page illustration, with '”Christmas Greetings” at top left, and the initials of the artist 'L.D.C.' in small letters at bottom left. The illustration is a simple line drawing, depicting the White Cliffs of Dover at bottom left, a French scene (with moored warship) at bottom right, an army camp at top right, a convoy of army trucks, with planes above rising diagonally at centre. Printed in miniature on the back cover is the Grenade badge of the Grenadier Guards. The Imperial War Museum website states that the Spearhead design of the 1 British Corps badge was 'symbolic of the fact that First Corps at Aldershot was the only Corps in permanent existence before the War and was therefore the spearhead of the British Army'.