Collection WEST - WEST, Lance Corporal Victor (1919-2002)

Wartime diaries, typescript correspondence, memoirs and poetry by Victor West, concerning the campaign in Greece, Crete and as a prisoner of war during World War Two, with recent poetry, 1941-1999; notably including a bound typescript memoir, 'The loss of Creforce Reserve: "The side show"', written 1981, including list of officers and other ranks of 9 Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps, killed in Greece and Crete, 1941, and a copy article, 'The Rangers in Greece and Crete: a story of devotion and toil', printed 1941 in the house magazine of the Gas Light & Coke Ltd; 3 volume bound typescript memoir, 'Wash me in the water: a personal account of the first Greek campaign, 1941. The battle for Crete, including the story of the loss of Creforce Reserve', written 1983; bound typescript 1941 personal war diary, a transcription of West's original diary; bound typescript copy letters to West from a Spanish fellow POW, Sgt Basilio Marin, 1944-1945 and photocopy typescript and manuscript notes (untitled) on the Crete campaign, 1941; bound typescript 'We from Crete: Pep talks in Stalag 383', written 1982, relating to life in a POW camp (first and second drafts); bound typescript, 'Escape involuntary (we couldn't help it)', recounting West's escape from a POW camp, Germany, Apr 1945; Victor West, The horses of Falaise: poems on the experiences of a fighting soldier in World War II (Salamandar Imprint, London, 1975), bound photocopy; Victor West, Part 2 orders: WWII poems (Salamandar Imprint, London, 1999), bound photocopy; notes on West's career and on the history of 1 Rangers, King's Royal Rifle Corps; copy correspondence and illustrations relating to a painting by West presented to Winston Churchill, 1955.