Description
Object description
His graphic ms letter (12pp, 19 April [1944], illegible in some places), with two incomplete ts transcriptions (3pp and 4pp), written to a relative while serving as an NCO with No 8 Troop, A Squadron, 1st Reconnaissance Regiment RAC (1st Division) in Italy, recording his experience in the bridgehead at Anzio in charge of a machine gun in an OP in an Italian farm under German artillery fire and the subsequent withdrawal to evade a German counter-attack; and commenting on his own reactions to his baptism of fire and seeing his first German, his views on "what makes a brave man", the destruction of his Bren carrier by shell fire, enjoying the Italian sunshine, the importance of mail to the troops, German air attacks on London and his hopes for a quick end to the war. Also included are an undated ts poem (1p) Remember 1939, referring ironically to Britain's post war decline, notably the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, and decolonization; his ts Soldier's Service and Pay Book (18pp) and his ts Soldier's Release Book (9pp) recording his army service (March 1943 – November 1946) , two photographs of him in uniform (2pp, April 1943 and August 1945), his ts Enlistment Notice (2pp, February 1943), his ts Combined Leave Pass and Railway Ticket (5pp, March 1946), his ts Record of Service with the Recce Corps (March 1943 – December 1943) and the RAC (January 1944 – March 1947), his Certificate of Transfer to the Army Reserve (1p, December 1946), his ts War Gratuity and Post War Credits (2pp, undated), and various papers relating to his post-war career (1948 – 1969), notably his membership of the Comrades Associations for The Reconnaissance Corps (1944 - 1965) and the 1 Recce Regiment (March 1957 - April 1965); and Christmas Greetings (1945) sent by, photograph of, and the RAF Service and Release Book of LAC Nelson E Holder RAFVR (26pp, April 1946).
Content description
His graphic ms letter (12pp, 19 April [1944], illegible in some places), with two incomplete ts transcriptions (3pp and 4pp), written to a relative while serving as an NCO with No 8 Troop, A Squadron, 1st Reconnaissance Regiment RAC (1st Division) in Italy, recording his experience in the bridgehead at Anzio in charge of a machine gun in an OP in an Italian farm under German artillery fire and the subsequent withdrawal to evade a German counter-attack; and commenting on his own reactions to his baptism of fire and seeing his first German, his views on "what makes a brave man", the destruction of his Bren carrier by shell fire, enjoying the Italian sunshine, the importance of mail to the troops, German air attacks on London and his hopes for a quick end to the war. Also included are an undated ts poem (1p) Remember 1939, referring ironically to Britain's post war decline, notably the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, and decolonization; his ts Soldier's Service and Pay Book (18pp) and his ts Soldier's Release Book (9pp) recording his army service (March 1943 – November 1946) , two photographs of him in uniform (2pp, April 1943 and August 1945), his ts Enlistment Notice (2pp, February 1943), his ts Combined Leave Pass and Railway Ticket (5pp, March 1946), his ts Record of Service with the Recce Corps (March 1943 – December 1943) and the RAC (January 1944 – March 1947), his Certificate of Transfer to the Army Reserve (1p, December 1946), his ts War Gratuity and Post War Credits (2pp, undated), and various papers relating to his post-war career (1948 – 1969), notably his membership of the Comrades Associations for The Reconnaissance Corps (1944 - 1965) and the 1 Recce Regiment (March 1957 - April 1965); and Christmas Greetings (1945) sent by, photograph of, and the RAF Service and Release Book of LAC Nelson E Holder RAFVR (26pp, April 1946).
History note
Cataloguer SJO