Private Papers of H H Kassman

Collection of c.400 ms letters, postcards and telegrams sent by Kassman to his mother, his fiancée Viviane (later his wife), his brother Alec and others, while serving as a Gunner with 99th (London Welsh) Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Regiment Royal Artillery (RA), and 153 HAA Battery and 152 HAA Battery, 51st HAA Regiment RA (4th AA Brigade) in Norway (May – June 1940), Egypt (November 1940 – January 1941), Tobruk (January 1941 – January 1942), various places in North Africa including Mersa Matruh, El Alamein and Benghazi, moving to Sicily (August 1943 – October 1943) and Italy (October 1943 – November 1944), with a two month stay in Algeria recovering from jaundice at 2nd AA Depot Regiment RA, RATD, (November – December 1943), the Statistics Section GHQ (2nd Echelon), volunteering for the Finance Division, Allied Commission for Austria, based in Rome, Italy (May – September 1945), and Vienna, Austria (September – October 1945). Together with a detailed word-processed account (507pp, compiled by his daughter in 2010) consisting primarily of transcriptions of Kassman's letters but also including some transcriptions of letters written to him, interspersed with historical and personal information including clarifications of information within the correspondence, and illustrated with scanned colour copies of photographs and documents including letters, sketches, newspapers, maps and concert programmes. Themes within the letters include descriptions of his surroundings and the living conditions, his brother Alec serving in the same Regiment, setting up a Battery newspaper called 'Inaction Magazine', playing rugby, cricket and chess, observance of Jewish holidays and services at synagogues, news from the Home Front, his Mother remarrying, seeing Italian prisoners, reading books and newspapers, participating in the first Siege of Tobruk (April – December 1941) but with few details of the actual fighting due to censorship, witnessing the aftermath of the Battle of El Alamein, his opinions of North African and Italian people, long periods of boredom, anger at Americans barring him from the American Red Cross club, frequent trips to the opera and ENSA shows, descriptions of post-war Italy and Austria, the 1945 British elections, his poor opinion of lower ranks and Allied Commission for Austria staff in general, his eventual promotion to Staff Sergeant, views on black marketeering, the long wait for demobilisation, planning post-war life, and becoming intensely Zionist following his experiences with refugees in Austria. Also contained in the account is an article written by Kassman for the National Provident Institution magazine (mentioning that he had worked with radar), and a scanned copy of a ts diary (25pp) kept by Gunner J W Kelly of 153 HAA Battery, 51st HAA Regiment RA during the Siege of Tobruk, covering 29 December 1940 to 15 February 1942.

Collection of c.400 ms letters, postcards and telegrams sent by Kassman to his mother, his fiancée Viviane (later his wife), his brother Alec and others, while serving as a Gunner with 99th (London Welsh) Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Regiment Royal Artillery (RA), and 153 HAA Battery and 152 HAA Battery, 51st HAA Regiment RA (4th AA Brigade) in Norway (May – June 1940), Egypt (November 1940 – January 1941), Tobruk (January 1941 – January 1942), various places in North Africa including Mersa Matruh, El Alamein and Benghazi, moving to Sicily (August 1943 – October 1943) and Italy (October 1943 – November 1944), with a two month stay in Algeria recovering from jaundice at 2nd AA Depot Regiment RA, RATD, (November – December 1943), the Statistics Section GHQ (2nd Echelon), volunteering for the Finance Division, Allied Commission for Austria, based in Rome, Italy (May – September 1945), and Vienna, Austria (September – October 1945). Together with a detailed word-processed account (507pp, compiled by his daughter in 2010) consisting primarily of transcriptions of Kassman's letters but also including some transcriptions of letters written to him, interspersed with historical and personal information including clarifications of information within the correspondence, and illustrated with scanned colour copies of photographs and documents including letters, sketches, newspapers, maps and concert programmes. Themes within the letters include descriptions of his surroundings and the living conditions, his brother Alec serving in the same Regiment, setting up a Battery newspaper called 'Inaction Magazine', playing rugby, cricket and chess, observance of Jewish holidays and services at synagogues, news from the Home Front, his Mother remarrying, seeing Italian prisoners, reading books and newspapers, participating in the first Siege of Tobruk (April – December 1941) but with few details of the actual fighting due to censorship, witnessing the aftermath of the Battle of El Alamein, his opinions of North African and Italian people, long periods of boredom, anger at Americans barring him from the American Red Cross club, frequent trips to the opera and ENSA shows, descriptions of post-war Italy and Austria, the 1945 British elections, his poor opinion of lower ranks and Allied Commission for Austria staff in general, his eventual promotion to Staff Sergeant, views on black marketeering, the long wait for demobilisation, planning post-war life, and becoming intensely Zionist following his experiences with refugees in Austria. Also contained in the account is an article written by Kassman for the National Provident Institution magazine (mentioning that he had worked with radar), and a scanned copy of a ts diary (25pp) kept by Gunner J W Kelly of 153 HAA Battery, 51st HAA Regiment RA during the Siege of Tobruk, covering 29 December 1940 to 15 February 1942.

Cataloguer SJO