The Commander Series Forum

My late father was in the Royal Signals - attached to 51st Highland Div. which in turn was part of 30 Corps.

Now that my mother is no longer with us I finally had access to some of my Dad's stuff which she would not let me have before (a long story).

To my great delight I have found a book presented to my Dad entitled simply 30 Corps - 1944 to 1945. It is number 1212 of a limited edition of only 2000 presented to some of the troops in that Corps at the end of WW2 and appears to also be signed by Horrocks. I have no idea why my Dad got one though.

The book has no less than 46 pull out maps and is a precise and details account of the actions of 30 Corps from D-Day to the end of the war - Caen, the Rhine Bridges, Bulge and many more famous actions - WOW. My first dip was to read the account of the first day of Market Garden - just like the film - rolling barrage, tanks away and typhoon strike on the defended woods.

I now have the best of reasons for building a WW2 British army and following my Dad in 30 Corps - he volunteered in 1939 and was with the Corps in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and then France and onto Berlin and Bremen.

BKC and Pendraken all the way and a very real interest in the campaign!

Apologies - looking at the front again it is entitled -
A Short History of 30 Corps in the European Campaign 1944 - 1945.

Your mind plays tricks at my age and had incorrectly shortened the title to its essentials. Another age thing is to keep rambling on with explanations!

Wow, sounds like a great book. Keep us posted on how things progress on the gaming front.

Sounds really interesting, look forward to following your progress

Sounds like quite the find. By the sound of it you may want to get it appraised, if for nothing else insurance purposes being a signed limited edition and all.

robjohn,
Glad you've got your Dad's book, I should think the personal worth outweighs any monetary value.

(If you want an idea of how much you should be looking to insure it for- drop me an email gfarrish at msn dot com and I'll give you an idea - for free). (don't give up the day job though.)

Sounds like an excellent book.

As a reality check on the book's market value I have found two for sale 'used' on Amazon - one around £45 and t'other at £125.

The book is priceless as far as i am concerned though!

I'll be getting some print on 51st Highland Division in WW2, finishing my Napoleonic armies (3 months or so) and then onto 10mm Pendraken - can't wait but I must restrain myself - SHE won't let me buy anything else until current stock is painted.

It's available as a crappy print-on-demand book on amazon, but that's nothing like having an original

Were those two examples you found also signed by Gen. Horrocks?

Its not so much the book that is valuable, but the signature.

Panzerleader 71 - thank you for that intel!

And the fact it is an original of 2000 copies.

Robjohn,

I can sympathise with the problem of starting new projects (ie SHE who must be obeyed).

Method I use is to buy big at shows, then drip feed them in over time. When questioned, the answer is "Oh these? I've had them ages...!"

robjhn
(and everyone)
There are a surprising number of that limited edition on the market at the moment. Price does vary considerably with condition and whether the dustjacket is present and in what condition (crazy perhaps but it matters to collectors). The signature may make a big difference but to an extent it depends on whether it can be authenticated, whether it is a genuine holograph signature (done by hand) or a stamp, and how much Horrocks signature is valued by collectors (I would have thought quite a bit, but having done a bit of research there are letters selling for as little as £6.00 and signed editions of his autobiography for c£60).
However as you have discovered the realistic buying price for the public is between c£35-£130. The signature could top that up to near c£200 at auction to the right buyer (you need two). However if you were looking to sell to a dealer I would expect you to get at most half of that. With an auction you have a fee to pay to the auction house and percentage premium on the final sale price usually -so it isn't quite as good as it sometimes appears. And if the buyers aren't there and you have a reserve not met you have to take it home again. For insurance I'd go with the £200-£250 range but it may not be worth the premium.

Of course the sentimental value is priceless. I know I treasure my father's wartime mementoes.

Hence the reason I suggested getting it appraised. The only thing we know here is he has the book; it is a limited edition and signed. We also the price of the book (I am assuming the examples above are not limited ed.'s and not signed.)

Also, as I mentioned above it would only be for insurance purposes (ie how much it would be to replace it in today’s market) I was assuming that the item would not be coming up for sale do to the sentimental attachment robjohn has for the edition. Even it is only worth 200 sterling (that is over $400 CDN) which makes it worth while to insure IMO

Another item of interest that would need to be looked at is the fact (according to original post) the editions in question were only presented to troops who took part in most of the operations Horrocks details.

I meant to add I feel there is value here, but he certainly did not hit the lotto jack pot by any means. But, it should be protected.

Sorry Panzerleader, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. I may have seemed a little arch at first but I didn't want to jump in and offer my opinion in public without robjohn's say so. As he started talking prices I felt it would be okay to comment further (hope that's okay) - not aimed at undermining any suggestion on anyone's part.

Dealing in books is what I do for a living these days

It may be worth photographing the book and mentioning it to your household contents insurance company, just so it wouldn't be a 'surprise' to them should anything happen. Check your individual policy or company to see how they deal with such items, but normally items of this value should be covered by general household contents insurance in the UK.

You should all probably value your book and figure collections and photograph and itemise them, check the valuation on your contents insurance and adjust accordingly if needed. Companies are looking to reduce payouts wherever they can and it can be difficult (impossible?) to persuade companies how much it will cost to replace your collections after the fact of an accident.

No apoligies necessary, I certainly don't mean to try and over step someone like yourself (who has more knowledge on this particular subject.) I just have seen/heard of too many disater stories where things like this weren't covered. I may even end in a mess one of these days with a coin, stamp and toy solder collection as well as a couple of books that all need to valuated and insured and are not.

"No apoligies ..."

That should be "no apologies..." I wish this forum had an edit button.

Sounds like a good idea... getting a valuation/insurance...and the edit button
Best wishes
Guy

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Short-History-Corps-E...

Pretty similar listing - doesn't mention it is signed by Horrocks. As previously discussed - not a life changing financial inheritance, but a great source of ideas for the wargames table.

Whatever, it's a fantastic piece of WW2 memorabilia and something to treasure from your father. I have a photo album of my Dad's from his time with the RAF in India in 1944 and 45. Not worth a great deal, but irreplacible to me.

Thank you one and all - I am pleased that my sharing this book with you has sparked some interest!

I did a great battlefield tour of Caen a few years back; we tracked the attack of 30 Corps as it swung south around the eastern edge of Caen whilst the Canadians "did the town". Good ground for a German defence hence the delay that Monty had in his part of the war.

On a visit to a local antiques centre today I was delighted to find a copy signed by Lt Gen Sir Brian Horrocks for the princely sum of £6.00. Dust cover a bit damaged but the book and maps in great condition.

Cheers

Richard P

Great find Richard!