Printed circular letter from Auchinleck 'To all officers whether belonging to the Staff or to the Services who are working in Headquarter Offices in this Command'. Consisting of a celebrated (and spurious) quotation from Wellington, and two cartoons.

Author: 
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, Commander in Chief, Middle East Command [Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington; military history; Second World War; British Army]
Publication details: 
01/05/42
£75.00
SKU: 7876

A celebrated and scarce piece of Second World War ephemera. Printed on one side of a piece of paper 33.5 x 21.5 cm. Text and illustrations clear and complete. In good overall condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper with small damp stain to top left-hand corner and repair on reverse to small closed tear. The text consists of a supposed 'Extract from a letter written by The Duke of Wellington from Spain, about 1810. To The Secretary of State for War, Lord Bradford', in which the putative Wellington inveighs against 'the futile drivelling of mere quill driving in your Lordship's Office', by which, if he attempted to answer it, he 'should be debarred from all serious business of campaigning'. A cartoon (6 x 8.5 cm) at the head shows three officials adding to large pile of letters, and another at the foot (10 x 12 cm) shows a general replying while a furious battle wages outside his tent. Under the second cartoon, and followed by a facsimile of Auchinleck's signature, is the following: 'I know this does not apply to you, but please see to it that it never can be applied to you, or to anyone working under you.' The quotation continues to be circulated as by Wellington, but is certainly not genuine (see Heinl's 'Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations') and is probably the work of Auchinleck himself. Described as 'a drive against red tape as a hindrance to the war effort in the Middle East', this circular was reported on, and the 'quotation' reproduced (bar the last fourteen words), in an article in The Times, 27 May 1942 ('Wellington on Red Tape. A quotation by General Auchinleck'). For more on the subject see History Today, January 1960 ('A Wellington Letter?'). Scarce: no copy on COPAC or WorldCat.