LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25288

Montgomery of Alamein Printed Pamphlet Signed

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Montgomery of Alamein Printed Pamphlet Signed
<B>Montgomery of Alamein Printed Pamphlet Signed</B></I> <I>"To/R.G. Casey/Minister of State/Middle East/a great friend of the/Eighth Army./B.L. Montgomery/General/Eighth Army/Italy/22-9-43"</B></I> inside front cover of "Eighth Army/Some Notes on High Command in War," 21 pages, 4.75" x 7". Italy, September, 1943. Headed <I>"Second Edition"</B></I> since General Bernard Law Montgomery had issued his first pamphlet with the same title in January 1943 as "First Edition." Two notices on the cover warn that it is <I>"Not to be Published. The information given in this document is not to be communicated either directly or indirectly, to the Press or to any person not holding an official position in His Majesty's Service"</B></I> and <I>"This pamphlet must NOT fall into enemy hands. Officers in possession of a copy will be responsible for its safe custody."</B></I> The <I>"Introduction"</B></I> is signed in facsimile <I>"B.L. Montgomery."</B></I> Sections of the pamphlet are headed: <I>"Use of Air Power," "Administration," "Morale," "The Commander," "The Staff," "Method of Exercising Command," "The Stage Management of Battle," "Overseas Campaigns," "Co-operation," "Command and Control," "Artillery," "Risks in Battle,"</B></I> and <I>"Final Advice."</B></I> Montgomery, as commander of the 8th Army, participated in the Allied landing in Sicily in July 1943 and led the troops invading the Italian mainland on September 3, 1943. He landed in Reggio di Calabria in southern Italy and then proceeded northward. On September 21st, Montgomery's 8th and U.S. General Mark Clark's 5th Armies realigned their boundaries and began the long drive north in pursuit of German forces. On September 27th, divisions of the 8th Army occupied Foggia and Melfi. The Allies used Foggia's airbase to stage raids throughout the Balkans and southern Germany and Poland. On March 19, 1942, the Australian Minister to the United States, Richard Gardiner Casey, was appointed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a Minister of State to represent the War Cabinet in the Middle East, with headquarters in Cairo. He played an important role as liaison between the British and Allied governments, local leaders, and the Allied commanders in the field including General Montgomery. In August 1942, Montgomery was appointed commander of the British 8th Army in the Middle East to lead the North African campaign. The Battle of El Alamein began on October 23, 1942, and ended 12 days later with the first large-scale, decisive allied land victory of the war for which Montgomery was knighted, promoted, and, in 1946, created 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Casey served as Minister of State until December 1943 when he was appointed Governor of Bengal by King George VI. <B>Montgomery's inscription to Casey as <I>"a great friend of the Eighth Army"</B></I> no doubt refers his victory at the Battle of El Alamein.</B></I> There are two tiny staple holes in the blank upper portion of the cover (and inscription page) and minor creases. The pamphlet is in very fine condition. See lot 25285 for Montgomery's letter to Casey accompanying this pamphlet.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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