Description
Object description
An original copy of a very detailed memoir entitled 'Diary of the 2nd Battalion The Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment Covering A Period From May to the Early Part of June 1940', (27pp, 1941, although the appendices are not included here) written by Birch about his time as Commanding Officer of the Battalion and its experiences during the fighting with the BEF as part of 10th Brigade (4th Division), with good day by day details of the movements of the various companies, the fighting, casualties, and his praise for the WOs, NCOs and men under his command, with a covering letter from Birch inviting all the recipients of the copies of the diary, namely all the officers of the Battalion, to add their stories of incidents to bring the story "alive" and "make it a 'human story' - not only a 'report'." This copy was owned by Lieutenant (later Brigadier) Peter Young DSO MC and two bars, who has annotated the report throughout, and included a list of all the officers of 2nd Bn Beds and Herts Regiment. Together with: photocopies of four ms personal letters from Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (2pp each), July 1941 - June 1943, concerning Birch's command of 167th Infantry Brigade, 56th Division in the United Kingdom and North Africa during that period; two presscuttings about King George VI's visit to the 56th Division in East Anglia in August 1942; a cyclostyled special message (1p) from the acting GOC 56th Division and an ms letter (3pp) from Major-General E G Miles, the previous Divisional Commander, relating to the fighting at Enfidaville in April 1943; a ts letter (1p) from Major-General J G Halsted, commanding South Wales District, in June 1944 concerning the deployment of troops in the area at the time of the Normandy landings; also a ms message (2pp) about the award to Birch of the DSO for his command of the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the campaign in France in May 1940.
Content description
An original copy of a very detailed memoir entitled 'Diary of the 2nd Battalion The Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment Covering A Period From May to the Early Part of June 1940', (27pp, 1941, although the appendices are not included here) written by Birch about his time as Commanding Officer of the Battalion and its experiences during the fighting with the BEF as part of 10th Brigade (4th Division), with good day by day details of the movements of the various companies, the fighting, casualties, and his praise for the WOs, NCOs and men under his command, with a covering letter from Birch inviting all the recipients of the copies of the diary, namely all the officers of the Battalion, to add their stories of incidents to bring the story "alive" and "make it a 'human story' - not only a 'report'." This copy was owned by Lieutenant (later Brigadier) Peter Young DSO MC and two bars, who has annotated the report throughout, and included a list of all the officers of 2nd Bn Beds and Herts Regiment. Together with: photocopies of four ms personal letters from Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (2pp each), July 1941 - June 1943, concerning Birch's command of 167th Infantry Brigade, 56th Division in the United Kingdom and North Africa during that period; two presscuttings about King George VI's visit to the 56th Division in East Anglia in August 1942; a cyclostyled special message (1p) from the acting GOC 56th Division and an ms letter (3pp) from Major-General E G Miles, the previous Divisional Commander, relating to the fighting at Enfidaville in April 1943; a ts letter (1p) from Major-General J G Halsted, commanding South Wales District, in June 1944 concerning the deployment of troops in the area at the time of the Normandy landings; also a ms message (2pp) about the award to Birch of the DSO for his command of the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the campaign in France in May 1940.
History note
Cataloguer RWAS
History note
Catalogue date 1989-12