ECP0935

A SLIM AND MODEST VOLUME OF WAR POETRY IN A CARD BINDING LACKING ITS SPINE: Entirely handwritten and entitled at the front : Poems of Lieutenant Edward Vaughan Green, 1st Northants Yeomanry R.A.C. Killed in Action in Holland 14 Nov 1944. Several leaves at the rear are blank, but in total there are 8 poems and a letter. These are dated (June - nov 44), with titles. They are weritten in the same hand as the title page and therefore cannot be by the autor himself. This looks like a keepsake volume possibly kept by the parents of the dead soldier This is a quite moving volume of highly accomplished war poetry from a man who took part in the D Day landings and put into prose what he saw: Rouen August 1944 : The flags at the first storey windows are fluttered against the blue The waved hands the unheard voices as the chariots thunder through. The fruit and the flowers for the victors the smiles and the tears and the fuss We read all about it in history and now it has happened to us. This volume of poems is likely to be either a copy of a volume of poems now lost or a bringing together of his poems on sheets of paper or other sources. The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was divided in May 1939 to form two Cavalry Light Tank Regiments;1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry (TA) - Regimental Headquarters and "A" Sqn at Northampton, "B" Sqn at Daventry and "C" Sqn at Brackley.2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry (TA) - Regimental Headquarters and "A" Sqn at Northampton, "B" and "C" Sqns at Kettering.Both Regiments formed part of 20th Light Armoured Brigade (TA) and were mobilised on 1 September 1939.During World War II 1st Northants Yeo (TA) remained in the United Kingdom and from 1941 - 1942 were part of the Coats Mission , the plan to evacuate the Royal Family in the event of a German invasion. In 1944 now as a part of the 33rd Armoured Brigade they participated in the Normandy Landings on D Day June 6. The brigade's three regiments which included the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry and the 144 Regiment RAC, landed on Gold Beach in Normandy. Their role was to support any infantry who were in need of armour support, therefore the Brigade rarely fought as one entity. One of the occasions when the Brigade did undertake an operation on its own was at Le Mesnil-Patry on June 11, 1944. Further battles they were involved in were around Caen, including Operation Charnwood 7 July, the battle to capture Caen. On the July 16, 1944 it was involved in Operation Pomegranate , where it come under the command of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. On August 8, 1944 it was involved in Operation Totalize , a planned breakout from the Caen Salient. It was during Operation Totalize that Joe Ekins a Sherman Tank gunner of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry gained recognition for killing the renowned German tank commander, Michael Wittmann, the 4th top scoring tank ace in history, on August 8, 1944 near St. Aignan de Cramesnil, France. They were briefly attached to the 51st (Highland) Division for the actions around the Battle of the Bulge. The Regiment was reformed and re-equipped with LVT 4 (Buffalo , amphibious armoured fighting vehicles) , for the Rhine crossing and was placed under the command of the 79th Armoured Division.