Turner Donovan Military Books - The world’s finest selection of rare and out-of-print books on British military history from 1800 to 1945
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The First World War The First World War, Personal memoirs of soldiers of all nations on all fronts, anthologies, literature and fiction, history and analysis   984 Books
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Diary of an Officer of "U.C. 26." May 1917. 1st Ed., orig. blue printed paper wraps., 4pp., foolscap. Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Division. May 1917  #61756
[HLMainPic] I.D. 1156. For Official Use Only. Translation of the diary of Leutnant D. Reserve (or Sub.-Lt. of the Reserve) Heinrich Petersen, second-in-command of submarine U.C. 26, 30 April 1917 [leaving Bruges] until 7th May 1917, detailing operations in the English Channel during these few days. They found a gap in the RN barrage on 1st May & steered for Havre. The submarine laid mines & sank a Norwegian steamer by torpedo, but U.C. 26 was herself sunk on 9th May. Detailed diary of a week at sea. VG & rare. See illustration on our website.   £95
Australia at The Dardanelles 25th April 1915. 1st Ed., orig. dec. wraps., 32pp., 4 photos., double-page artist's 'birdseye' view of Gallipoli, 2 maps. Sydney: W.A. Gullick, Govt. Printer. 1915  #61049
[HLMainPic] The first cabled reports of the Gallipoli landings sent by Ashmead Bartlett & C.E.W. Bean, published for use in schools in New South Wales. Attractive orig. wraps., minor wear, VG. See illustration on our website.   £65
On Safari: Experiences of a Gunner in the East African Campaign. By F.C. 1st Ed., 90pp., orig. dec. card wraps., 5 plates. Cape Town: Juta. 1917  #66333
[HLMainPic] Personal experiences inc. a short account of German South-West Africa in 1914-15 then mostly active service in German East as an artillery signaller &c. Orig. illustrated card wraps., VG throughout & rare. See illustration on our website.   £95
Letters from Flanders written by 2nd Lieut. A.D. Gillespie Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders to his Home People. 3rd Ed., with an Appendix, xvi+326pp., portrait frontis., 2 other portraits. Smith, Elder. 1916  #65190
[HLMainPic] Alexander Douglas Gillespie was Ed. at Winchester & New College, Oxford, commissioned in the 4th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders & went to the Front in Feb. 1915. He was killed in action on 26th September 1915 with the 2nd Bn. near La Bassée, during the Battle of Loos (his only brother, Thomas Cunningham Gillespie, 2nd Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, had been killed near the same place on 18th October 1914). A.D.G. was twenty-six and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Contains one long letter from T.C.G. dated 16th October 1914, relating recent experiences in action etc. Almost all the book comprises A.D.G.'s lengthy letters from the Front, February 1915 onwards, describing life in trenches and billets, from the antagonistic activities of the Germans opposite to the habits of Sonia the cat that shared their trenches (and her kittens), changing conditions of warfare (issue of respirators etc.), curious rumours (streams poisoned with arsenic; booby-trapped corpses) and much more. Orig. red cloth, gilt, minor wear, VG. See illustration on our website.   £120
The Gallant Legion. Complete set of 12 Vols. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. 1930s.  #66392
[HLMainPic] Angus & Robertson was the most prolific publisher of war memoirs in Australia after the Great War & produced a number of notable & several classic texts recording the experiences of Australian men & women in the Army, Naval, Nursing & Air services. At some point during the late 1930s, presumably to give a new lease of life to unbound sheets, the publisher reissued all these works in a series called The Gallant Legion. The sheets of various (but not 1st) editions were bound in excellent quality blue cloth with the series title at the head of the spine, plus the number of the volume in the series, with the individual volume title & author below, & a fighting soldier motif at the foot of the spine. All the volumes in this edition are complete as per the original texts, with all maps & photos. as originally published. This fine body of work, complete here in 12 volumes, includes: IDRIESS (Ion L.) The Desert Column; MAXWELL (J., VC, MC, DCM) Hell's Bells & Mademoiselles; WHITE (T.W.) Guests of the Unspeakable; RULE (E.J., MC, MM) Jacka's Mob; WILLIAMS (H.R.) The Gallant Company; TILTON (May) The Grey Battalion; REID (Frank) The Fighting Cameliers; MORROW (Edgar) Iron in the Fire; BURTON (O.E., MM) The Silent Division: New Zealanders at the Front 1914-1919; JONES (T.M.) Watchdogs of the Deep: Life in a Submarine During the Great War; SUTHERLAND (L.W., MC, DCM) Aces & Kings; MONASH (Gen. Sir John) The Australian Victories in France in 1918. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, VG throughout & excellent complete set. See illustrations on our website.   £425
Letters of a Soldier 1914-1915. With an Introduction by A. Clutton-Brock & A Preface by Andre Chevrillon. Authorised translation by V.M. 1st English Ed., xx+191pp. Constable. 1917  #66540
[HLMainPic] Letters of a French volunteer from August 1914 to April 1915 when posted missing in the Argonne. Corner of half-title cutaway (removal of insrcription?) o/w VG.   £35
Camion Letters From American College Men, Volunteer Drivers of The American Field Service in France, 1917. 1st Ed., xii+101pp. NY: Henry Holt & Co. 1918  #66586
[HLMainPic] Letters of ten volunteer drivers (mostly from Cornell University) serving with the French Army at the Front. Orig. blue cloth, paper title labels to front & sp., VG. See illustration on our website.   £45
General Annual Report on The British Army For the Year Ending 30th September, 1912, With Which is Incorporated the Annual Report of Recruiting. Prepared by Order of the Army Council. War Office, 1913. 1st Ed., orig. blue printed paper wraps., iv+126pp. (plus one replacement leaf loosely inserted). Printed for HMSO by Harrison & Sons. 1913  #69195
[HLMainPic] The Annual Report contains a large number of statistical tables including the Establishment & Strength of the Army; ditto by Arms; details of numbers of troops embarked for India & other countries; Punishments & Rewards; Nationality, Religion & Education (which reveals, for instance, that of the Regular Army in that year, of 234,901 other ranks, 183,891 & 3076 were of English & Welsh origin, respectively; 18,253 were Scottish & 21,421 were Irish [the small balance made up of soldiers born in India or the Colonies, &c.]). Includes various similar tables for the Army Reserve, Militia & Yeomanry, also stats. re Horses & Mules, alongside a detailed 40pp. Report of the Director of Recruiting & Organization on recruiting during the year. Much interesting detail that provides an excellent basis for research on the make-up of the Army of the era: average age, length of service, courts martial & deserters, drunkenness, those re-engaging or taking discharge, & so forth. Orig. blue printed paper wraps., VG. 1500 copies printed. See illustration on our website.   £50
Artillery Operations of the Ninth British Corps at Messines, June, 1917. 1st Ed., orig. printed wraps., 124pp., 4 fldg. plates, 10 fldg. maps, 2 tables. Edited at Army War College, Aug. 1917, printed by US Govt. Ptg. Office, Washington. 1917  #66734
[HLMainPic] Designated CONFIDENTIAL! For official use only NOT TO BE TAKEN INTO FRONT LINE TRENCHES. Contains a detailed study of artillery preparations for the Battle of Messines, 7th June 1917, & reproduces various instructions, orders, reports, intelligence & communications. A Summary of Artillery Operations explains that "Systematic trench bombardment & wire cutting was commenced about May 21, 1917, & was intensified about May 28. During the period May 28 to June 6, inclusive, 297 trench bombardments were carried out with aeroplane observation. Wire was cut along front & support lines by trench mortars & 18-lbr. batteries, & on rear lines by 6-inch howitzers with aeroplane observation..." The most informative text is supported by reproductions of four aerial photos. of parts of the Messines battlefield & ten excellent actual size 1:10,000 & 1:20,000 British operational fldg. trench maps, barrage maps, &c., & several tables, all reproduced in colour. Objectives, barrage lifts &c. are shown in great detail. Orig. brown printed wraps., chipped & worn, signs of much use but generally VG, complete & rare. See illustrations on our website.   £225
List of British Officers Taken Prisoner in the various Theatres of War between August, 1914 & November, 1918. Facsimile reprint of 1919 Ed., 218pp., printed card covs. LSE/Toad Hall. 1988  #67221
[HLMainPic] Valuable listing of nearly 8000 officers PoWs noting date missing & repatriated, successful escapes noted also if interned to Holland, died &c. VG. See illustration on our website.   £25

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