[Special Intelligence Service]. FRANK, George B. (and numerous others)

Special Intelligence Service in the Far East, 1942-1946. An Historical and Pictorial Record. [S.I.S. Record (cover title)]

[Brooklyn, New York], SIS Record Association, [1946].

Large quarto, vi, 106 pages (mainly illustrations, from photographs) plus two-colour endpaper maps. Pages 98-106 contain 'Names and Addresses of American Personnel'.

Dark blue cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover; boards a little bowed; corners bumped, with some wear to the top rear one; front endpaper a little marked, with some loss to silverfish (with minimal impact on the two adjacent leaves); contemporary local ownership signature; overall, a very good copy.

The foreword is by General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief, United States Army Forces, Pacific: 'Upon the eve of the deactivation of the S.I.S. of the South West Pacific Area and of the Army Forces, Pacific, I wish to commend this organization and its members for their effective efforts in the war against Japan.

This service, which grew from a mere handful of Americans and Australians to a strength of more than 3,000, has been outstanding in its achievements'. The first members of the SIS arrived in Melbourne in Spring 1942; after two months, the service relocated to Brisbane, where it spent almost two years. In the winter of 1944 'a large group left Brisbane to set up advanced headquarters at Hollandia [Dutch New Guinea]. This echelon was composed of several hundred Australian officers and other ranks' and about the same number of Americans, under the command of Major S.R.I. Clark, AIF. By August 1945, nearly all of the SIS was based at Camp Miguel, near Manila in The Philippines. There is much Australian content in the book, especially Melbourne (4 pages), Brisbane and Camp Ascot (21 pages), and six half-page group portraits of Australian personnel at the rear; scattered throughout are numerous other illustrations referencing the Australian contribution to the SIS. Trove records only two copies (one in the University of Sydney Library; the other in the University of Queensland Library, incorrectly catalogued as 'Signal Intelligence Service').

Item #132973

Price (AUD): $550.00
other currencies