1943 + 1944 CHARMING PAIR OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARIES HANDWRITTEN BY A YOUNG KEXBROUGH, SOUTH YORKSHIRE LAD COMING OF AGE WHILE THE WAR BRINGS DEPRIVATIONS AND SACRIFICE THROUGHOUT ENGLAND
On offer are two (2) diaries documenting life of a young boy from rural England during the Second World War. When starting the first diary Richard was 13, and lived in Kexbrough, at the border of South and West Yorkshire, near the river Dearne with his aunt and father. The diaries contain many details of wartime life, like rationing and watching war documentaries; Richard's school friend is in the Air Training Corps, and a family member, probably his brother, is serving in the navy - there are several entries where Richard writes about him coming for a leave from Devonport, the naval base near Plymouth: "Ernest came home. Looks very nice in sub-lieutenant's uniform...Ernest goes back to Devonport on Monday", and about receiving parcels from Sicily where the Allied Forces landed in July 1943. The diaries mention a strike of bus drivers in January 1943 organized by the Labour movement, a not widely known war time event. However, his diaries are mainly an account of everyday life of a 13-year old boy, who goes to school, plays football, boxing, does household chores: "Had a boxing match with a boy in our class in gym. Did not get hurt, gave him one in eye". What makes the diary stand out is Richard's keen eye for nature: almost every day he goes to the woods or to the river, hunting or fishing, and records his observations: "saw a fox and found a rabbit nest", "found a pheasant's feather", "found a small lizard, probably sand lizard". He is biking around much, often with his best friend Brian Loy, nicknamed "Myrna", after a movie star of 1930s. The first entry in 1943 is instructions how to cure a deer skin, the process that occupies much of his time during January and February, and the second is "Notes on my rabbits and how to house and feed them in winter and summer" - he write about his rabbits almost every day. Richard's family had Scottish origin - several entries in 1943 describes a trip to Edinburgh and Glazgo with his father where they visit relatives and he also writes about a photograph of uncle Alfred Benjamin Lean, who served in the Royal Navy during the WW1 as a gunner, and was presented to the King in Edinburgh. As Richard is growing up the content and style of his diary are changing, the entries become longer and more detailed, he writes more about school classes and exams, starts mentioning girls names, has more duties at home, travels longer distances. The diary mentions different geographic places in the area, names of local residents, Mr. And Mrs. Birkenshaw, Mary Sutton, students and school teachers. The books are small-sized, one in a marbled leather cover, and the other in a black leather-like cover. Condition: good +, there are no missing or torn pages, ink has slightly faded in few places. Size: 1943 diary - 2'5 x 3'5, 1944 diary - 3'2 x 5'; Manuscript; 48mo - over 3" - 4" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, 20TH CENTURY, 1940S, WW2, SECOND WORLD WAR, WWII, ENGLAND, SOUTH YORKSHIRE, KEXBROUGH, RIVER DEARNE, DARTON, BARNSLEY, SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, SCHOOLS IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE, WARTIME, HOME FRONT, WAR HISTORY, ADOLESCENCE, GROWING UP, BICYCLING, BIKING, FISHING, HUNTING, RABBITS, DEER SKIN, TANNING DEER HIDE, FOOD RATIONING, SWEET RATIONING, ENGLISH VILLAGES, BRITANNICA,HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, AMERICANA, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL
