LOGISTICS

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Two very interesting unpublished documents, the first giving an assessment of Churchill by a colleague who worked closely with him throughout the Second World War, and the second describing the important part that individual himself played in the logistical management of the war, from before Dunkirk to after D-Day. This material is from Sir Noel Galway Holmes’s private papers, another batch of which, comprising confidential reports on him, recommendations by superior officers, and particulars of his service, is offered separately.

Educated at Haileybury and Sandhurst, Scovell was gazetted to the Cameron Highlanders in 1900 and served with the regiment in the latter part of the Boer War (his diaries for the period being among material offered separately). The present paper is well-written and the fruit of experience. Scovell's views were clearly well-received, as he was appointed deputy Director-General of Recruiting at the end of the First World War. For more information about Scovell, see his entry in 'Who Was Who', and his obituary in The Times, 29 April 1948. The present item is 32pp., 4to.

Folio, 1 p. Thirty-eight lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and creased paper, with spike-hole at head, with 'ack[nowledge]d 3/10/16' in manuscript. Giving instructions regarding the means by which 'all consignments conveyed by Passenger or Goods Trains over controlled Companies' Lines on behalf of the Admiralty or War Office, [...] be invoiced without charges'. 'The above instructions will also apply to Traffic with Irish Ports when conveyed by Controlled Companies' Steamboats.'

English traveller, writer and Governor of City of London College (1891-1991). First and last letters, two pages quarto; middle two letters, one page quarto. All in good condition and either docketed or bearing the Society's stamp. In first letter, further to a conversation, Duly asks if he can give a lecture on 'Ships sweat & condensation'. 'I have been away with a Leverhulme Fellowship on Carriage of Goods by Sea & am now on the Pacific Coast again where I find v. great interest in my previous papers & requests for a further account of more recent work.