The History of the 2/7 Australian Field Regiment
Adelaide: Privately printed, 1952. Tall octavo, green cloth, gilt spine lettering, endpapers illustrated with maps, xix, 380 pp. Frontispiece (listed as Plate I) is a photographic portrait of Lieutenant-Colonel W. J. Green, D.S.O., E.D. Ten double-sided inserts of black-and-white photographic plates (22 plates in total); illustrated throughout with maps. Cloth spine rubbed, lettering faded, spine ends frayed. Binding a little loose but holding firm. Front and back covers thumbed, spotting on preliminary leaves, light foxing on leaves throughout. Scarce first edition. Written by David Goodhart, Gunner for the regiment of the title, this is a personal account of the training of the 2/7 Australian Field Regiment in Australia, Palestine, the Western Desert, Cairo and Syria. This training was put to full use in the Battle of El Alamein, fought in Egypt in 1942 during the Second World War.
The 2/7 Field Regiment was formed in April of 1940 and included recruits from South Australian and West Australian brigades. In October of the same year, the regiment was assigned to the 9th Division and was deployed to North Africa in early 1941. The regiment saw action in several locations across North Africa, but "came into its own" during the Battle of El Alamein in mid-1942, where it held the northern sector for close to four months. The success of this battle became known as one of the turning points of the war. The regiment returned to Australia in 1943 and did not see further action until it was sent to Tarakan in 1945. Following the end of hostilities, the regiment was eventually disbanded in 1946.
The title page of this volume includes a note by the previous owner: "13th Battery A.I.F. Abroad was brother Bob's regiment, 2841 GNR. Dixon R. W." Item #4400
Price (AUD): $250.00