MUNITIONS

Two First World War postcards, with the poems printed in black lengthwise on one side, and 'POST CARD' and the usual arrangement printed on the other side. Neither item with any manuscript text or other additions. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Valuable artefacts, filled with information about the workings of a munitions factory, and reflecting the tensions between the male and female workers. No other copies traced, either in the Imperial War Museum, on OCLC WorldCat, or on COPAC. ONE: Headed 'An Appreciation. | (Copyright.)' At foot: 'Composed by Mr. G.

The largest man-made explosion before the the development of nuclear weapons, with a force equivalent to nearly 3 kilotons of TNT, occurred when the French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc, laden with wartime munitions, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. The explosion devastated the Richmond District of Halifax, killing 2000 and injuring 9000. Each postcard carries the words 'Copyright Underwood & Underwood, N.Y.' next to the caption beneath the image, with 'Novelty Mfg.

12mo, 3 pp. Thirty-six lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed by Bonaparte, with stamp, red wax seal and postmarks, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Monsieur le Lieutenant-Colonel Lherbette Adt. au comm. de l'artillerie dans la 1re. division militaire | Vincennes'. Were he not leaving for the country, he would have presented in person 'Mr. Colt, citoyen des Etats-Unis, inventeur d'un ingénieux système d'armes à feu à plusieurs coups'.

Total 3pp., folio, fold marks, good condition. He asks the Scretary of the RSA to "draw the attention" of members to "to the fact that the Munitions Inventions Department, which ...

Inventor and engineer (1870-1923), whose papers are held by the Royal Society. During the war Harker was in the Inventions Department of the Ministry of Munitions. One page, 12mo. Good, if slightly grubby. Docketed in pencil and bearing the Society's stamp. Reads 'I send herewith a short contribution to the discussion of Dr Flemings paper at which I was present but in which on account of lack of time I did not feel it desirable to take part verbally.' Signed 'J. A. Harker'.