Description:

Edward VIII of England King



Future Edward VIII War-Dated ALS on WWI Trenches, Submarines, North Africa, and Peace Talks

 

2pp ALS inscribed overall and signed by Edward, then Prince of Wales (1894-1972) as "Edward" at center bottom verso of double-sided cream stationery paper. Written at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in England on January 21, 1917. A triple-plumed "Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense" royal seal with a large "E" is embossed in red wax in the upper left corner of the first page. Expected toning, isolated discolored spots, and light paper folds, else near fine. 5" x 7.875".

 

Transcribed below in part, with original spelling and punctuation (including Edward's enthusiastic over usage of the double exclamation mark for emphasis!!) Paragraph breaks have been added for improved legibility.

 

"York Cottage,

Sandringham.

Jan. 21. 1917.

 

My dear Carroll,

 

Very many thanks for your long letter of good wishes which I should have answered ages ago!! But I'm on leave + so very slack about writing!! I hadn't been home for 7 1/2 months but alas I return to France on 23rd Life is pretty beastly out there just now as you may imagine with mud up to one's neck, + the raid + cold is v. trying!! I've been on the Somme since Aug. tho. the battle ended in Oct. I feel very hopeful about this year seeing the end of it all; once peace talk starts it will never be dropped + the Huns are pretty tired now internally + will soon be threatened with starvation!! But their submarines are a bore + sinking a fearful lot of our ships; but I think we shall be able to deal with them alright.

 

Your trip to Arabia must have been interesting; but I suppose the Sherief's troops are hopeless!! Sorry to hear Capt. Wilson has broken down but no wonder; his brother is C.R.E. of 14th Corps where I still am. I heard from Sir R. Wingate who was on his way to Cairo; you'll be sorry to loose him but I'm v. glad he's got that job; it is a fine reward for him!! I'm glad you like Col. Stack, the new Sirdar; I dont think I've met him!!…

 

How I long to return to the Sudan but to go really into the country or have less official work!! How I hate it!! Claud is v. well + has spent the whole of his leave in London as you may imagine!! I haven't had as much of London as I should have liked, only 5 nights, but then I've had some shooting, not that its quite the same thing in war time?!

 

Please forgive this dull scrawl, + again many thanks for your long + interesting letter. Wishing you all the best of luck

 

I remain yrs. v. sincerely

 

Edward."

 

This remarkable war-dated letter, written by the 22-year-old Prince of Wales, is suffused with equal parts of boyish bravado and British stoicism. On the first page, Edward describes the Western Front: the Somme, one of the most significant battles of World War I; the appalling conditions of trench warfare; unrestricted submarine warfare; total warfare (the starvation of German civilians); and his hope for armistice. On the second page, the Prince of Wales discusses the North African theater and fumes at the mostly ceremonial extent of his duties.

 

The future Edward VIII had long been earmarked for British military service, but initially in the Royal Navy; he had attended naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I in June 1914, however, the Prince of Wales joined the First Battalion of the Grenadier Guards as a Second Lieutenant. He was soon appointed to the staff of Field Marshal Sir John French at British Expeditionary Force General Headquarters in France. The Prince of Wales would serve as a Staff Officer with the XIV Corps in France, Egypt, and Italy until 1918.

 

Though the Prince of Wales was personally prohibited from participating in any military action, his frequent visits to the trenches to raise British morale enabled him to witness conditions firsthand (and earned him the Military Cross in 1916.) The Somme Offensive had taken place between July-November 1916. Of the approximately 3 million British, British Imperial and Territorial, French, and German combatants, roughly 1/3 were injured or killed in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Edward was to describe the Somme elsewhere as a "hell of a battle". The Prince escorted his father George V through some of the captured battleground in late 1916.

 

The identity of Edward's correspondent "Carroll" remains unknown, but we know from context that he served in the British Army somewhere in the Middle East. It's likely that Carroll was a young man close to Edward's age and from a similar socio-economic, educational, and military training background.

 

"Sir R. Wingate" referred to General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate (1861-1953), a career soldier who had served in India, Egypt, Sudan, and the Middle East. Between 1899-1916, Wingate acted as Governor-in-General of Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army headquartered in Cairo. As Edward noted, Wingate had been recently succeeded by "Col. Stack, the new Sirdar." Sir Lee Stack (1868-1924) had been Wingate's Military Secretary. "Sirdar," a variant of "Sardar," was an Arabic honorific denoting leader. Stack represented British interests in North Africa until he was assassinated by Egyptian students in 1924.

 

The Prince of Wales writes about an endearing companion named "Claud." This was almost certainly Lord Claud Hamilton (1889-1975), who had transferred to Edward's unit the Grenadier Guards in 1909, and who served as Edward's equerry after 1917. Hamilton was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry in 1914. He served in the royal household after the war.

 

This fascinating letter also shows the extent to which the prince's attitude about the "Huns" would change during the 20 intervening years between his war service and his ascension to the throne. Edward VIII would transform from a saber-rattling and patriotic young recruit to a Der Fuhrer sympathizer and Third Reich apologist.

 

The future Edward VIII writes an intimate letter about the most catastrophic military conflict then seen in the twentieth century!

 


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