Turner Donovan Military Books - The world’s finest selection of rare and out-of-print books on British military history from 1800 to 1945
  Stock last updated on 30 May 2023
 
   

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   846 Books
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A Subaltern's Share in the War: Home Letters of the late George Weston Devenish, Lieut. R.A., Attached R.F.C. Intro. & Notes by Mrs. Horace Porter. 1st Ed., xviii+178pp., portrait frontis., 4 plates. Constable. 1917  #60338
[HLMainPic] Regular officer RFA (commissioned 1913 after Charterhouse & Woolwich), letters & diary from France Aug.-30 Oct. 1914. He joined 6th Bty., 40th Bde. RFA on the Aisne & was wounded near his OP at Fauquissart, on the Indian Corps front, 28.10.14; in France again June 1915-Apr. 1916 (around 'Plugstreet' &c.) when trans. to RFC as Artillery Observer for four months in France, then pilot training & KiA flying as a pilot in 35 Squadron: shot down in flames, on 6th June 1917, and is commemorated on the Arras (Flying Services) Memorial.. Contains lengthy extracts from entertaining & informative letters describing his active service experiences in Flanders & later over the Western Front. Orig. paper covd. boards, sp. split o/w overall VG. See illustration on our website.   £165
Granville: Tales & Tail Spins from A Flyer's Diary. 1st Ed., 176pp., portrait frontis., 12 photos. VG in dw. NY & Cincinnati: Abingdon Press. 1919  #65554
[HLMainPic] A memoir, letters & diary of Lt. Granville E. Gutterson, who volunteered for the US air service but was killed in training before reaching the Front. VG in dw. See illustrations on our website.   £45

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The Western Front Then & Now. 1st Ed., 256pp., 4to, photos. throughout, map. VG in dw. Pearson. nd (c.1938).  #59714
[HLMainPic] Useful volume of around 300 comparison photos. in wartime & after, + commentary & index. Orig. dec. red cloth, VG in sl. chipped dw & scarce thus. See illustration on our website.   £45
Friends of France. The Field Service of the American Ambulance Described by its Members. 1st Ed., xix+298pp. frontis., approx. 30 photos. Smith, Elder & Co. 1916  #59903
[HLMainPic] The organisation & work of the Ambulance in France & Flanders 1914-15, together with portaits & service details of various members of the unit. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, sp. dull o/w VG. See illustration on our website.   £25
Letters of Arthur George Heath, fellow of New College, Oxford, & Lieutenant in the 6th Batt. Royal West Kent Regiment. With Memoir by Gilbert Murray. 1st Ed., [viii]+222pp., portrait frontis. Oxford: Blackwell. 1917  #58580
[HLMainPic] Arthur George Heath was born in London in 1887 & educated at the Grocers' Company's School & New College, Oxford, becoming, after graduation, a Fellow of the College, then travelled in France and Germany for a year before settling down to teaching modern philosophy. He obtained a commission in the newly raised 6th (Service) Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment in 1914, went to France in 1915 & was KiA on 8th October 1915, aged 28, in an attack on Gun Trench near La Bassée. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Contains a memoir, letters in training 1914-15 and from France & Flanders June-October 1915, with much of interest on regimental routine & Active Service: "I would rather have a man take a little risk now and then, firing at what he thinks a loophole or a periscope, than remain forever huddled down behind the sandbags quite indignant if anyone on his side fires a shot, for fear that the Germans shall reply. That is the attitude of a lot of the ex-regular N.C.O.'s especially. This trench life in any case is not good for morale. How does anyone suppose the troops will face the open after it? I think I must take more men out on little expeditions at night, just to get them used to the absence of a parapet…" Orig. apple green cloth, titled in green to spine & New College crest to front. See illustration on our website.   £145
Alec Rowan Herron. Born July 30th, 1893. Educated at Braeside School, West Kirby, 1902-1905; Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk, 1905-1911; New College Oxford, 1911-1914. 2nd Lieutenant, King's Royal Rifle Corps, August 15th, 1914, Killed in Action at Givenchy, March 10th, 1915. 1st Ed., 79pp., portrait frontis. Liverpool: Henry Young & Sons., For Private Circulation. 1915  #58508
[HLMainPic] Herron, a member of the OTC at New College, applied for a commission immediately war was declared, was gazetted to the Special Reserve of the KRRC & by the end of the month was with their 6th (SR) Bn. at the Isle of Sheppey; he joined the 1st Bn. at the end of November ("Off to the front at last!") & was KiA leading a charge against the German trenches at Givenchy three-&-a-half months later. The book consists entirely of his letters written between Aug. 1914-March 9th 1915, followed by letters of condolence from officers in his bn., &c. His letters catch vividly the mood of the times - patriotic & optimistic in spite of the news of reverses in France & of the deaths of friends - & also provide good descriptions of the routine of trench life in this early period & the constant threat from snipers. When his sgt. was killed he wrote: "The bullet was meant for me, as he had just shown me a loophole from which the whole of their line could be seen, & I took a good look through, & unfortunately he just glanced through it after me & was hit." A very moving & evocative memorial, also one of the earliest published. Orig. grey paper covd. boards, wheat cloth backstrip, gilt to front & spine, VG. See illustration on our website.   £165
From Dug-out & Billet: An Officer's Letters to His Mother. 1st Ed., [iii]+190pp. Hurst & Blackett. 1916  #59928
[HLMainPic] Anonymous letters (signed "Chota") supposedly of a regular major, product of Wellington & Sandhurst, whose death is reported in a WO telegram, there also being condolence letters from his colonel & servant, but quite possibly a work of fiction. Atmosppheric of the period & rather scarce. Orig. grey cloth, gilt, little rubbed, VG. See illustration on our website.   £35
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  #64125
[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
Royal Artillery War Commemoration Book: A Regimental Record written & illustrated for the most part by artillerymen while serving in the line during the Great War. 1st Ed., xxiv+408pp., folio, col. & b/w plates throughout, sketches &c. Bell. 1920  #60043
[HLMainPic] A superb memorial record that contains numerous accounts of different units & actions, individual experiences &c., in numerous actions on all Fronts, as well as the Roll of Honour of officers. Awesome, immense, well-illustrated compilation & invaluable for the study of the Royal Artillery on the Western Front & elsewhere. Orig. dark blue cloth, gilt to front & sp., excellent copy, near fine & scarce thus. See illustrations on our website.   £225
The B.E.F. Times: A Facsimile Reprint of the Trench Magazine. 1st Ed. thus, liv+ approx. [100]pp. VG in dw. Herbert Jenkins. 1918  #59522
[HLMainPic] First reproductions of The BEF Times (successor to The Wipers Times &c.) in volume form. VG, orig. printed paper covd. boards in worn & neatly repaired but attractive & very scarce dw with appealing Western Front scene featuring the offices of the BEF Times under shellfire. See illustrations on our website.   £125

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