1919 ORIGINAL ARCHIVE OF SEVEN [7] MANUSCRIPT LETTERS HANDWRITTEN BY A ROYAL NAVY OFFICER OF THE HMS TEMERAIRE DETAILING THE SHIP'S ROLE IN SETTLING THE POST WORLD WAR EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

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On offer is a super, historically significant, modest archive of seven [7] original manuscript letters dated Haifa, Constantinople [Istanbul], January 19th 1919 through March 23rd 1919 handwritten by an officer of Royal Navy named Hal aboard the HMS Temeraire of the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet. Hal writes 32 full pages of fascinating content as the British Navy continued its new role post World War I of settling the Middle East. His narrative features an overland journey to Haifa, a description of Acre in Israel, description and commentary on the tenuous relations and allied efforts between Russians, Turks, Germans, the English and the French, in the aftermath of the Great War, together with firsthand commentary on naval involvement, movement of ships and much more. HMS Temeraire cruised the Black Sea, navigated the Bosporus Straits to the Mediterranean during this three month period. Hal twice mentions Colonel Keyes, the renowned Admiral who was involved in the Boxer Rebellion, and heavily involved in the organisation of the Dardanelles Campaign of World War I. Of particular interest are his writings of the HMS Temeraire's role ferrying the famed General Sir Edmund H.H. Allenby (who was associated with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign) from Palestine to Turkey. Here are some snippets of this fascinating significant archive: "We are now on our way to Haifa in Palestine to fetch Allenby & take him to Constantinople We left Sebastopol on Wednesday, arrived at Constantinople on Thursday, left on Friday & get to Haifa tomorrow afternoon. He is going on well, but will probably take some time to get quite well. In the meantime Brookfield has put on a fourth stripe & is thoroughly enjoying himself as acting captain. He is very unfussy and quite undisturbed at any close work on the bridge which is very pleasant. Old Underbill used to get very nervous & consequently troublesome. Next day I went to a big lunch party at the local Minister for Foreign Affairs. There were six of us from the ship, about an equal number of French officers from each of the two French ships, several French soldiers & a balance of Russians. Some of the older Russ were the funniest looking old things in weird old uniforms if about Crimean War date. They (the men, not the uniforms) looked very moth-eaten & dusty, a little like wax works, as if they had stood undusted in a museum for 50 years. The host was a funny little jew - his wife was a pleasant stoutish party 45-50, possibly a lady & talked French quite passibly. The lunch itself was amusing otherwise I was bored stiff. Quite an interesting day yesterday. It started by the commander going sick, which left me practically Rear Admiral of the Black Sea. I was just getting interested in the job & had already given a destroyer her orders for a fortnight's cruise, and interviewed a bunch of Russian trade pots who are bent on opening up trade with England from here & probably still more intent on making 500 per cent on the deal, when the commander recovered & took the job over about lunch time. Last night three soldiers (officers) arrived in a destroyer from - two English & a Russian. I heard that one of them was a Col. Keyes he seems to have taken great pains to be wherever there was most fighting. He was with the Romanians in their big scrap, with Croutie at Petrograd just before he was done in: at Moscow (the only Englishman there I Believe). He was arrested several times and after escaping, generally returned with forged passports to look for more trouble. They seem to think a lot of him, both the Russians & his own lot....we left here on 4th with Allenby & his staff consisting of four generals & half a dozen other officers. I will send you some photos in due course He is a big man, about 6ft 2 I should think & only looks 45 though he is 57. His staff seems to think a lot of him & say that he did the big battle entirely on his own against the advice of all of them & of course it was the big success of the war. We arrived at Constantinople on 7th, left again (with Allenby) on 8th and got here on 11th. That night it blew a gale & made landing impossible next day - fortunately we got the General & staff landed first. We are now staying here until Monday 17th when we return to Constantinople. It is rather an attractive spot to look at. It is by Mt. Carmel, 10 miles south east of Acre, and 20 miles east of Nazareth Brookfield is still "captain" & thoroughly enjoys himself & liked having all the generals to entertain en route. He & I and the Fleet surgeon dined with the General last night. He & his staff are most pleasant & it was quite enjoyable. On Thursday evening, about 9pm our cable parted, & we shot down the Bosphorus at about four miles an hour. We got another anchor down & pulled up just short of the Sultan's harem. Only a few hundred yards more, & the old Temeraire would have found herself in the main dormitory> The skipper, in fact, had just asked me the Turkish for "Don't be alarmed, ladies, the Sultan has just appointed me Lord of the Bedchamber" - the only excuse he could think of, when the anchor held.. But next day he thought it advisable to clear out, as our cables are rather old for these games. So we spent the day at Haidas Pasha, just outside the Bosphorus & camp on here yesterday. It is a nice country spot." Overall VG. Show more