Collection
The bookrooms in the Irish National War Memorial Gardens are home to a collection of items relating to both World Wars.
The Ypres Alphabet, by C. M. Truman and J. Leslie (1917)
Download the full book here.
Ypres is in Belgium, and was the setting for five long battles between the Germans and the Allied Forces during the First World War. 2nd Lieutenant Major J. Leslie and Major Lieutenant Colonel C.M. Truman both joined the 12th Royal Lancers cavalry regiment in 1914, the first year of the war. Both men were decorated for merit and held Distinguished Service Orders, and Leslie had also been awarded the Military Cross.
The Ypres Alphabet was written between 1915 and 1917, and had a small print run; it is a very rare book today. It was published using cyclostyling, a method for duplicating hand-drawn content with a small toothed wheel to make a stencil. Only the right-hand pages (rectos) are printed on.
- Pass
- Christmas Card
- Diary
- Helmet
- Burial Letter
- France Photo
- Giftbox
- Death Penny
- Postcard
- Spoon
- Watch
- Certificate
- Salt
- Tropical Helmet
- Straps
- Bottle
- Killarney Photo
- Wounded Letter