Special Collections

Letter dated 21 February 1943

Manuscript letter from Tripoli mentioning the poem 'Soldier's Prayer', the difficulty to express in writing how it feels like being a soldier, their alienation and homesickness.

Tags: Africa, Desert War, Libya, North African Campaign, Second World War, Tripoli, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Manuscript letter discussing about the poems 'Yone May', 'For Alemein [Alamein]', 'Orchids', 'Sand' and including references to Capetown, Tripoli and a scheme including Italian speaking interpreters, Churchill, jobs options after the end of the war,…

Tags: Africa, Cape Town, Churchill, Desert War, North African Campaign, Second World War, Tripoli, Tunisia, Tunisian Campaign, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 28 October 1942: draft of poem 'Tel El Eisa'

Manuscript letter including a draft of the poem 'Tel El Eisa' and references to life in the desert near El Alamein and the battle field. Also mentioning the publication of some of his work in the 'Daily Telegraph'.

Tags: Africa, Battle of El Alamein, desert, Desert War, Egypt, North African Campaign, Second World War, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 28 September 1942

Manuscript letter including references to everyday life in the army, including meals, flies, in the desert near Cairo and Alexandria.

Tags: Africa, Alexandria, desert, Desert War, Egypt, North African Campaign, Second World War, war, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 29 August 1942

Manuscript letter including references to everyday life in the army camps and three South African coins. Also mentioning receiving a cable or cablegram with news of his daughter's birth and wandering how the baby looks like.

Tags: Africa, desert, Desert War, Egypt, North African Campaign, Second World War, war, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 29 January 1943

Manuscript letter from Tripoli including references to his experience, an ordered list of the poems sent, a small sketch. Also mentioning helping an Italian family living in the city and local street sellers.

Content Advice: This letter contains…

Tags: Africa, Desert War, Libya, North African Campaign, Second World War, Tripoli, war, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 30 April 1943

Manuscript letter mentioning life in the army in Tunisia, the North African war, Tunis and ancient Carthage, Jerusalem, the film 'Desert Victory' by Boulting and the Bishop's Stortford's cinema, African birds.

Tags: Africa, desert, Desert War, North African Campaign, Second World War, Tunisia, Tunisian Campaign, war, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 31 December 1942: draft of poems 'Soldiers' Prayer' and 'For Alemein [Alamein]'

Manuscript letter including drafts of the poems 'Soldiers' Prayer' and 'For Alemein' and references to the life in the desert with the army.

Tags: Africa, Battle of El Alamein, Christmas, desert, Desert War, Libya, North African Campaign, Sahara, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 4 March 1943

Manuscript letter mentioning the structure of the poem 'Soldier's Prayer', the desert, Suez and the river Nile.

Tags: Africa, Desert War, Libya, North African Campaign, Second World War, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 6 February 1943

Manuscript letter from Tripoli including the story of an Italian family, from Sicily, who had moved in Libya in 1912, after the Italo-Turkish war. The narration provides an insight in the recent history of the Libyan colony and in the current war as…

Tags: Africa, Desert War, Libya, North African Campaign, Second World War, Tripoli, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 9 December 1942

Manuscript letter including references to the battle of El Alamein, the life in the desert, birds, his finances, banks, hotels and Cairo. Also discussing good books including mentions of James Elroy Flecker, Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf, 'A…

Tags: Africa, Battle of El Alamein, Cairo, Cyrenaica, desert, Desert War, Egypt, Libya, North African Campaign, Sahara, Second World War, war, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 9 November 1942: draft of poem 'Orchids'

Manuscript letter written after the battle of Al Alamein including a draft of the poem 'Orchids/Song in the Desert' and references to the battle and the retreat of the Germans and Italians.