Description
Object description
A collection of papers relating to his service in 'C' Company, 1st Battalion Essex Regiment (23rd Infantry Brigade, 70th Infantry Division), including: a very detailed ms account (32pp) of 1st Battalion Essex Regiment's action at Ed Duda, outside Tobruk (26 November 1941), during Operation Crusader and the breakout of the siege, written in February 1942, shortly after the events described; a copy of the account (16pp) as it was later reprinted in full in the Regimental Association history 'The Essex Regiment 1929 - 1950' by Colonel T A Martin MBE, together with a quote from Peterborough writing in the 'Daily Telegraph' (September 1952) saying that Brownless' account of Ed Duda was "as good a contemporary piece of descriptive writing about the war as I have seen"; a notebook containing a first draft of a possible memoir (8pp) starting with the Battalion's journey to, and arriving at, Tobruk, in the destroyer HAVOC, his fellow subalterns, meeting the Australian garrison, and first impressions of Tobruk; a ts account (3pp, February 2009) and a similar but different ms version (4pp) of the arrival of 70th Division at Tobruk, with details of entering the front lines, taking over from Australians, his command post and dug-out, taking over a platoon that was terrified of the German machine guns firing on their position, rations, water, ammunition, patrols, coming under air and ground fire, anecdotes, and the account ending before the attack on Ed Duda, with ts and ms notes, written while helping the author Robert Lyman with his book 'The Longest Siege: Tobruk and the Battle for Africa, 1941'; a printed copy of the book 'Animal Management' (1933, War Office Veterinary Department) used by Brownless when he found out he was to take over the transport (60 mules) in Burma; Two Certificates for Cambridge University Officer's Training Corps (August 1940); his Release Certificate, class 'B', on Grounds of National Importance (January 1946); a ts account of anecdotes told to the author by Brownless (1p) about the German retreat from Tobruk, and Brownless nearly not going to Burma due to jaundice; a newspaper article from 'Daily Mirror' (2pp, 15 June 2009) about a group of veterans from Tobruk, namely Philip Brownless, John Riggs, Alex Franks, Raymond Ellis and Jack Senior, meeting, 68 years later, a German named Rudolf Schneider who was also there, with details of Robert Lyman's book about Tobruk; copies of extracts from the regimental history 'The Essex Regiment 1929 - 1950' by Colonel T A Martin MBE, about 1st Battalion at the Arakan, and 44 Column Chindits, with quotes by Philip Brownless written in 1951, with ts copy of his account (1p); 3 ms letters by Colonel T A Martin MBE to Brownless (6pp, December 1951 – March 1952) regarding Brownless' contributions to the regimental history; a tribute by Robert Lyman at Brownless' memorial service (October 2014) recounting his military record and anecdotes, but also his spiritual side (Brownless was a theological student, and vicar after the war) and his determination to forgive his former enemies (3pp, October 2014); and a review of the book 'The Longest Siege' by Robert Lyman.
Content description
A collection of papers relating to his service in 'C' Company, 1st Battalion Essex Regiment (23rd Infantry Brigade, 70th Infantry Division), including: a very detailed ms account (32pp) of 1st Battalion Essex Regiment's action at Ed Duda, outside Tobruk (26 November 1941), during Operation Crusader and the breakout of the siege, written in February 1942, shortly after the events described; a copy of the account (16pp) as it was later reprinted in full in the Regimental Association history 'The Essex Regiment 1929 - 1950' by Colonel T A Martin MBE, together with a quote from Peterborough writing in the 'Daily Telegraph' (September 1952) saying that Brownless' account of Ed Duda was "as good a contemporary piece of descriptive writing about the war as I have seen"; a notebook containing a first draft of a possible memoir (8pp) starting with the Battalion's journey to, and arriving at, Tobruk, in the destroyer HAVOC, his fellow subalterns, meeting the Australian garrison, and first impressions of Tobruk; a ts account (3pp, February 2009) and a similar but different ms version (4pp) of the arrival of 70th Division at Tobruk, with details of entering the front lines, taking over from Australians, his command post and dug-out, taking over a platoon that was terrified of the German machine guns firing on their position, rations, water, ammunition, patrols, coming under air and ground fire, anecdotes, and the account ending before the attack on Ed Duda, with ts and ms notes, written while helping the author Robert Lyman with his book 'The Longest Siege: Tobruk and the Battle for Africa, 1941'; a printed copy of the book 'Animal Management' (1933, War Office Veterinary Department) used by Brownless when he found out he was to take over the transport (60 mules) in Burma; Two Certificates for Cambridge University Officer's Training Corps (August 1940); his Release Certificate, class 'B', on Grounds of National Importance (January 1946); a ts account of anecdotes told to the author by Brownless (1p) about the German retreat from Tobruk, and Brownless nearly not going to Burma due to jaundice; a newspaper article from 'Daily Mirror' (2pp, 15 June 2009) about a group of veterans from Tobruk, namely Philip Brownless, John Riggs, Alex Franks, Raymond Ellis and Jack Senior, meeting, 68 years later, a German named Rudolf Schneider who was also there, with details of Robert Lyman's book about Tobruk; copies of extracts from the regimental history 'The Essex Regiment 1929 - 1950' by Colonel T A Martin MBE, about 1st Battalion at the Arakan, and 44 Column Chindits, with quotes by Philip Brownless written in 1951, with ts copy of his account (1p); 3 ms letters by Colonel T A Martin MBE to Brownless (6pp, December 1951 – March 1952) regarding Brownless' contributions to the regimental history; a tribute by Robert Lyman at Brownless' memorial service (October 2014) recounting his military record and anecdotes, but also his spiritual side (Brownless was a theological student, and vicar after the war) and his determination to forgive his former enemies (3pp, October 2014); and a review of the book 'The Longest Siege' by Robert Lyman.
History note
Cataloguer SJO
