I make an officer of the Rifle Brigade go to dinner in another mess for a quiet night
Autograph Letter, Signed
Piers Court, 1951.
One page of folded headed letter-paper, written on both sides, to Basil Bennett (though the salutation is "Dear Wallis"), requesting information on military protocol as research for Men at Arms, the first of the Sword of Honour trilogy. "It is vy hard for a failing memory to recall what happened twelve years ago. Could you be vy kind and supply a further pieces of information. I make an officer of the Rifle Brigade go to dinner in another mess for a quiet night... Is this correct for Dec 1939? Are your patrols as I think dark green with black patent leather pouches on the back? Have these pouches a special name?..."
Basil Bennett (1894-1966) was stationed at Sherborne with Waugh during the war. Bennett's father owned the Hyde Park Hotel and when, after the war, Bennett became manager there, it became a frequent watering hole of Waugh's. Both men remained good friends and Bennett became Godfather to Waugh's third daughter, Harriet.
Stock ID: 35645
£1,500.00
