[Rarebooks] fa: WORLD WAR II LONDON HOME FRONT DIARY 1943 (RAF Air Training Corps, Air Raids, etc.)

[ArCh]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, November 24. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/t3pjr78

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA


WARTIME MANUSCRIPT DIARY for the year 1943, maintained by a resident of East London. Cloth-backed heavy card covers ("Letts Quikref Popular One-Day Diary"), 8vo, comprising January 1, 1943-January 1, 1944; 366 pp; entries in ink and pencil. Some wear and creasing to the covers, corners bumped, spine skewed; contents with occasional small spots and stains, else clean and sound, firmly bound.

The 1943 diary of T. E. Lynch (ink stamp on the first leaf), a young man living in London with his mum and dad during World War II. From internal evidence, Lynch resides in or near Barking in East London, works in a clerical/"office boy" capacity in the "Testing dept." of a car parts firm (probably Kelsey-Hayes, manufacturer of wheels, brakes, etc.), while simultaneously studying for his matriculation (university entrance exam), performing "fire watching" duties at night, and  attending training sessions, etc., at the local "squadron" of the A.T.C. (the Royal Air Force's Air Training Corps, a volunteer-military youth organization established in 1941), where he is also part of the office staff. He has two older sisters who are away much of the time; one, Patty, is either a student or a teacher at New College, Hampstead, and the other, Kitty, is in the Women's Royal Naval Service ("Mr. Beaumont [English teacher]: 'Hallo, Lynch - what was wrong with you last week?' 'My sister home on leave, sir.' 'What? is she in the WAAFs then?' 'No, sir, in the WRENs.' 'Oh! the best.' 'Yessir, only the best for the Lynch's'.").

The AIR TRAINING CORPS plays a large part in Lynch's life, earning more entries in his diary than nearly anything else: "Went to ATC in the afternoon. Had to type out orders. Never finished till six."..."Went to ATC had to strip an engine & then put it back together again"..."Did Anti-Gas & Hygiene. Wasn't too bad"). In September, Lynch is awarded his "proficiency badge" ("Am now a Leading cadet") and later in the year, he's studying "Morse and Aircraft Recognition" ("Got down to 8 w.p.m. in morse with one mistake..."). By December, the entries are becoming increasingly detailed: "...went to a Bofors gun site after which we visited the parachute section. A WAAF showed how a parachute was packed & then we saw how a Mae West & a Dinghy were operated... and then went to the NAAFI there we had cakes & biscuits, tea..." There follows a lengthy, detailed account, accompanied by a diagram, of  "what is called the Dome Trainer," an early simulator that used projections and mirrors to train anti-aircraft gunners. Lynch's description overflows the diary and he's had to staple in an additional leaf of writing paper.

AIR RAIDS play almost as prominent a role in the diary as the A.T.C. There are dozens of entries regarding German bombing raids on London, many of them proving to be, in Lynch's view, fairly unremarkable: "Had a warning in the evening from 20.15 to 21.15. There was a heavy barrage put up but never saw or heard any bombs."..."Started today at 4:50 a.m. with a warning. Guns were firing but nothing happened. They used some of those new tracer shells..." Others are regarded mostly as an inconvenience: "Warning at 8.15... Tried to get home but because of barrage went into shelter. Barrage stopped for a little. Tried getting home but it started again. Got home at last just as the all clear went." ... "Had warnings galore last night. A lot of gunfire. I lost count of the warnings before going to sleep." But quite often the raids are more destructive, and Lynch's descriptions more vivid: "Were given quite a jolt this morning when several Jerries came over practically at roof top height. Bombs dropped on Ilford... Number of people killed... Machine gunning as well took place. Took all our defences by surprise." ... "The warning went. There was a lot of ack ack fire. Barking letting loose now & again with all her guns... Saw three planes get caught in searchlights but although some of the fire went near it never hit them..." ... "Had a warning at 10.50. A lot of gunfire. Fire over in the Kent direction. Saw four flares dropped in the London direction...Heard some shrapnel come down in the back garden. Will have to have a look in the morning to see if any's there." ... "One of our kittens must have got hit by a piece of shrapnel. It died this afternoon." Meanwhile, Lynch's FIRE WATCH duties are far less dramatic: "Went firewatching last night. Had two games of billiards and a game of snooker. Was a quiet night." ..."Went firewatching this evening with Mr. Mears and Ellmore. Had four games of billiards..." ... "Went out to firewatch with Patty if it's possible to call it firewatch..."

Probably the third most common theme running through the diary is MOVIEGOING, with many, many entries about going to "the pictures," giving the titles, usually the stars, often the name of the theatre, and occasionally a brief and not very articulate review, "pretty good" being a typical assessment: "Went to pictures and saw 'Arabian Nights' and 'Hi Buddy' at the Heathway [in Dagenham]. Both pretty good pictures. I hear that all picture palaces round here (except for ABC) are being taken over by Odeon." ... "Met Mum & Betty outside Rio [in Barking]. Saw 'Immortal Sergeant' with Henry Fonda and 'He's my man' [i.e., 'He's My Guy'] with Dick Foran. Also saw a Donald Duck picture 'The missing private'..." ... "Went to the 'Gaumont' with Mum & saw Abbot & Costello in 'In the Navy'... a good programme the only seriousness being M of I news [Ministry of Information newsreel] which showed the Italians celebrating the Armistice. It also showed U.S. paratroopers in action & fighting in Italy..." ..."Saw 'Mrs. Miniver' with Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon & Richard Ney. Was a very good picture."... etc.

He enjoys other youthful amusements typical of the time: shows at the Ilford Hippodrome (including the pantomime "'Dick Whittington'...which turned out to be lousy"), dances ("Went to dinner, dance & social get up by dramatic section of Young Communist guild. Enjoyed myself"), music ("went to see Maurice Winnick & his band..."), playing and watching football (soccer), etc. At one point, he provides a detailed description (with diagram) of a cleverly engineered prank: "Fixed up buzzer to connect when Kitty sat down. Worked alright. Was she surprised? Got a clout."

Lynch clearly follows the war news closely and there are many references to military events happening in the world beyond London: Tunisia and the North African campaign, Stalingrad, the Pacific theater, the famous "dam busters" raid (Operation Chastise) of 16-17 May, 1943, the invasion of Sicily, the Cairo Conference, the sinking of the Scharnhorst, etc. etc. There are also recurring references to the peculiarities of wartime life on the home front: rationing ("Parcel from Dennis containing 17 bars of chocolate, tin of vaseline, bar of soap, combs, etc." ... "Ran out of tea today."), prices, the "[Service of] youth scheme," etc.

During the course of the year, Lynch revisits his home town of Street (Somerset), carries on what seems to be a very desultory courtship of a girl called Ethel, repairs punctures on his bike, has difficulties fixing the wireless, searches everywhere (at Foyle's, etc.) for a copy of "Methuen's Anthology of Modern Verse" before finally securing a copy from Maggs Bros., and finally sits for his Matriculation exams ("Failed on the whole lot"). His entries get somewhat skimpy during the summer, August and September being almost completely blank, but most days Lynch has something to say, with the entries toward the beginning and end of the year being especially expansive and lively.