Special Collections

Transcripts of the letters of John Jarmain

Transcripts of 120 letters of the poet John Jarmain to his wife Beryl, with whom he regularly corresponded after travelling to North Africa and South Italy during the Second World War. The letters are dated from 17 June 1942 to 04 November 1943.…

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 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 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 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 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 28 May 1943

Manuscript letter including a list of negatives of pictures taken in North Africa, with references to Djidjelli [Jijel], Kherratta and Setif in Algeria, Takrouna in Tunisia, Tripoli, Agheila and Leptis Magna in Libya.

Tags: Africa, Algeria, Libya, North African Campaign, Second World War, Tunisia, war

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

Letter dated 20 January 1943: draft of poem 'Leptis Magna'

Manuscript letter including a draft of the poem 'Leptis Magna', references to the journey through the desert along the Lybian coast up to Leptis Magna and the arrival to Tripoli, deliveries and mail. Also including some literary discussion of poetry,…

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

Letter dated 19 November 1942

Manuscript letter including references to the life in the desert, the Sahara desert, with flies and dust storms and Benghazi, Libya.

Tags: Africa, Cyrenaica, desert, Desert War, Egypt, Libya, North African Campaign, Sahara, Second World War, war, war poetry, Western Desert Campaign

Letter dated 19 December 1942

Manuscript letter including references to the life in the desert with the army, Libya, Alexandria, supplies and postal service and Cape Town.

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

Letter dated 13 January 1943

Manuscript letter including references to the life in the desert, the army, aircraft and spitfires, RAF and US AAF, El Alamein.

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

Letter dated 12 February 1943

Manuscript letter from Tripoli including references to the scarcity of food supplies in the city due to the retreat of the German and Italian soldiers.

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

Airgraph dated 5 December 1942

Manuscript letter including references to life in the desert.

Tags: desert, Desert War, Libya, North African Campaign, Sahara, Second World War, war, Western Desert Campaign

Airgraph dated 26 November 1942

Manuscript letter including references to Tobruk and the following journey through the desert and the Nile. John Jarmain and his anti-tank unit were probably somethere between Tobruk and Mersa Brega.

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