Purple and Blue. The History of the 2/10th Battalion AIF (the Adelaide Rifles), 1939-1945
[Adelaide, 2/10th Battalion Association, 1958].
Large octavo, xxviii, 454 pages with a map plus 32 pages of plates and 6 maps (including a folding map mounted on the rear pastedown).
Light blue cloth (printed in purple) a little marked and soiled; extremities slightly bumped and worn; a few minor marks and small edge tears internally; a few other signs of age and handling; a good copy (internally very good).
Provenance: Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Drummond Verrier DCM ED (1896-1974), first commanding officer of the 2/10th Battalion, with his ownership details and gift inscription on the front endpaper. Verrier enlisted for service in the First World War in 1915 and served with the 10th Battalion and 50th Battalion. 'He was wounded in the Battle of Noriel [Noreuil] on the 2nd April 1917. In that action his conspicuous gallantry in leading his platoon under heavy fire against strong enemy positions won him the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Although he was wounded and his platoon suffered heavily the enemy positions captured had an important bearing on the success of the battle' (Allchin, pages 1-2). Between the wars he rose through the ranks of the Citizen Military Forces to command the 43rd Battalion, before being appointed commanding officer of the 10th Battalion on the outbreak of war in 1939. The lengthy gift inscription (to a relative, dated 7 August 1965), gives a brief genealogy of the Verrier family; it is signed 'Arthur & Phil [Phyllis] Verrier'. Offered together with: A vintage gelatin silver photograph of Verrier as a sergeant, circa 1917, wearing his Distinguished Conduct Medal (195 × 153 mm on card mount; the mount is marked, a little worn, with a heavy crease across it, cracking the photograph). A gelatin silver photograph of Verrier during the Second World War (142 × 107 mm; creased, with a few imperfections around the edges), in an envelope inscribed in his hand 'To Kathie, from Uncle Arthur. Colonel, 2/10th Bn.' (and dated '23/4/72' in another hand). 'The Dardanelles. An Epic told in Pictures' [London, The Alfieri Picture Service, 1916], inscribed and signed 'Ruby H. Loxton [?] | from | Arthur' (card covers repaired with clear tape along the spine, now neatly detached from the contnets). Dornbusch 414; Trigellis-Smith 372. [4 items].
Item #147254
Price (AUD):
$1,000.00