Lot 372

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Description:

D-Day "H-Hour" Teletype, "Invasion H[a]s Begun" Hugely Important With Bonus Signed WWII Memoir

A lot comprised of a Reuters news agency teletype from the morning of June 6, 1944, collected by American war correspondent Ralph Hammond (1916-2010) from his wartime London offices; and a signed copy of Hammond's World War II memoir, "My GI Aching Back." Accompanied by a substantial amount of provenance information including statements by Hammond and Hammond's son, ca. 2001-2022.

The lot includes:

1. A Reuters News Agency teletype printed on the morning of June 6, 1944, featuring approximately 73 words, numbers, and/or symbols in the form of five cursory news flashes transmitted from 6:33 AM to 6:39 AM local time. The Reuters transmission began just moments after "H-Hour," or 6:30 AM; sunrise marked the end of Allied battleships' bombardment in advance of the deployment of landing craft near the beaches at Normandy. Expected wear including flattened folds and isolated minor foxing, with a neatly torn top edge, else near fine. The fragment measures 8.5" x 13."

The teletype reads in part, with unchanged spelling and punctuation:

"INVASION HS BEGUN - GERMAN OVERSEAS NEWS AGENCZ.
SNAG 0633 '''''''''

H
SNAP '' ? £
LE HAVTE IS BEING SHELED - REUTER ? 0633

'''' SNAP 3

GERMAN NAVZL FORCES HZVE ENGAGED ENEMY LANDING C
AFT -
REUTER / 0635…"

A photocopy of a March 4, 2001 letter written by Ralph Hammond and addressed to Christie's is included among the supplemental information provided with this lot. In this letter, Hammond explained that he had acquired the D-Day teletype while serving as a Military War Correspondent assigned to the Public Relations Office of the European Theatre of Operation. Hammond wrote in part:

"In my London office on the early morning of June 6, 1944, the Reuter's [sic] teletype machine began clicking noisily. A little later I realized how significant the incoming messages were, and in an hour or so, I tore off the news sheet rolling out, at a length of more than a foot long…"

Also included in the provenance information is a manila envelope inscribed "Christie's, N.Y., N.Y. / D-Day Reuter [sic] ticker tape"; several photocopies of the teletype; a 2000 newspaper article about a similar D-Day teletype donated to the Virginia Military Institute; and a 1p statement from Hammond's son. Hammond's son's statement reads in part: "For additional validation concerning my father's work as a U.S. military war correspondent, I have included for you an autographed copy of his first book that he wrote after the war about his non-classified experiences in the European theater of operations…."

2. A first edition hardcover copy of Ralph Hammond, "My GI Aching Back" (New York: The Hobson Book Press, 1946), 169pp. Signed by the author as "Ralph C. Hammond" on the full title page. In maroon publisher's buckram boards with the front cover and spine embossed in silver. A few superficial scuffs to the covers, else near fine, with the interior clean and crisp. 5.875" x 8.5" x .75."

In Chapter VIII, "Invasion Comes," Hammond writes about seeing the news transmitted via this very Reuters teletype:

"In London on D-day morning, Reuter's [sic] newstape brought the first news: 6:33 A.M. the GERMAN RADIO ANNOUNCED INVASION OF THE CONTINENT HAS BEGUN. That was all. I left my billet on Green Street and went to work at 28 Grosvenor Square as usual. At the top of the stairs stood Master Sergeant Gordon MacMahan of Chicago. His Irish face flushed redder still as he said to each soldier coming to work, 'It's on!'" (Hammond, "My GI Aching Back," p. 72.)

On June 6, 1944, approximately 175,000 SHAEF troops participated in Operation Overlord, the Allied military invasion of Nazi-occupied Normandy. D-Day, as it was called, remains the largest amphibious invasion ever undertaken, both in terms of transport and personnel. Over 4,000 Allied ships and some 1,200 Allied planes were involved in the multi-prong attack on five Normandy beachheads. The human cost was high, with an estimated 10,000 Allied casualties and between 4,000 to 9,000 Nazi casualties. Yet D-Day marked the beginning of the Allied liberation of France, and proved to be a tremendous boost to Allied morale. The Nazis were driven out of Paris three months later, in late August 1944.

Ralph Hammond served as a World War II war correspondent for over three years. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1946, the same year his war memoir was also published. Hammond served as the press secretary and speech writer of Alabama Governor Jim Folsom (1908-1987) during the latter's two gubernatorial terms, 1947-1951 and 1955-1959. From 1963-1969, Hammond served as Mayor of Arab, Alabama. During his later career as a writer, Hammond published fifteen books of poetry and was nominated Alabama Poet Laureate from 1992 to 1995. The Ralph Hammond Papers (MSS-0614) can be found in the University Libraries Special Collections of the University of Alabama.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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