Description
Object description
A collection of postcards, private papers, and printed ephemera associated with the service of Arthur George Willshaw MBE BEM in the Royal Air Force before and after the Second World War; a number of stamped, addressed and postmarked postcards (some of them prints of photographs taken by Willshaw himself) and inscribed to Miss Joan Taylor, who Willshaw would marry in 1943, apparently written during Willshaw's journey to Singapore in April 1939 via Alexandria, Aden and Colombo, and posted in batches, with messages reflecting the experiences of a then-19-year-old Aircraftman Second Class deployed overseas for the first time, including an interesting set of postcards from the Raffles Museum, Singapore, depicting characters from a traditional Javanese wayang kulit (shadow puppet play), with Willshaw's comments on them; photographs taken by Willshaw, seascapes and landscapes around Singapore; photographs of Willshaw while off-duty; an Imperial Airways air ticket and ticket slip issued 15 November 1942 for transit from Karachi to Gwalior; a photograph album, in poor condition, with images of Willshaw and comrades at camp in India (some of the loose photographs appear to have originally been part of this album); a printed certificate, dated 1942, certifying Willshaw as winner of the One Mile for Troops event at the Inter-hostel Athletic Sports Meet of an unidentified University College, including a newspaper cutting listing Willshaw; a telegram 1p ts, stamped 12 August 1943, sent by Willshaw to Joan Taylor following his arrival back in the UK, having been repatriated; two photographs, apparently taken for Arthur and Joan's wedding (married 25 September 1943); a 1p ts pass of green card, admitting Willshaw to the Faraday Building; a ts letter dated 13 July 1945, inviting Willshaw to attend an investiture at Buckingham Palace, at which Willshaw received the British Empire Medal for his service in Burma (gazetted 16 December 1943), including a 1p blue card ticket admitting a witness to the investiture; a letter, 1p ts, from the secretary of the RAF Small Arms Association, certifying Willshaw's participation in the interservice shooting competition and authorising him to wear an enclosed blazer badge; a mounted photograph of officers and senior NCOs of RAF Cranage in Cheshire, dated July 1954; a mounted photograph, c.1970s showing Lord Mountbatten in his uniform as Admiral of the Fleet, inspecting a parade of veterans which includes Willshaw.
Content description
A collection of postcards, private papers, and printed ephemera associated with the service of Arthur George Willshaw MBE BEM in the Royal Air Force before and after the Second World War; a number of stamped, addressed and postmarked postcards (some of them prints of photographs taken by Willshaw himself) and inscribed to Miss Joan Taylor, who Willshaw would marry in 1943, apparently written during Willshaw's journey to Singapore in April 1939 via Alexandria, Aden and Colombo, and posted in batches, with messages reflecting the experiences of a then-19-year-old Aircraftman Second Class deployed overseas for the first time, including an interesting set of postcards from the Raffles Museum, Singapore, depicting characters from a traditional Javanese wayang kulit (shadow puppet play), with Willshaw's comments on them; photographs taken by Willshaw, seascapes and landscapes around Singapore; photographs of Willshaw while off-duty; an Imperial Airways air ticket and ticket slip issued 15 November 1942 for transit from Karachi to Gwalior; a photograph album, in poor condition, with images of Willshaw and comrades at camp in India (some of the loose photographs appear to have originally been part of this album); a printed certificate, dated 1942, certifying Willshaw as winner of the One Mile for Troops event at the Inter-hostel Athletic Sports Meet of an unidentified University College, including a newspaper cutting listing Willshaw; a telegram 1p ts, stamped 12 August 1943, sent by Willshaw to Joan Taylor following his arrival back in the UK, having been repatriated; two photographs, apparently taken for Arthur and Joan's wedding (married 25 September 1943); a 1p ts pass of green card, admitting Willshaw to the Faraday Building; a ts letter dated 13 July 1945, inviting Willshaw to attend an investiture at Buckingham Palace, at which Willshaw received the British Empire Medal for his service in Burma (gazetted 16 December 1943), including a 1p blue card ticket admitting a witness to the investiture; a letter, 1p ts, from the secretary of the RAF Small Arms Association, certifying Willshaw's participation in the interservice shooting competition and authorising him to wear an enclosed blazer badge; a mounted photograph of officers and senior NCOs of RAF Cranage in Cheshire, dated July 1954; a mounted photograph, c.1970s showing Lord Mountbatten in his uniform as Admiral of the Fleet, inspecting a parade of veterans which includes Willshaw.
