Goodwin, Rutherford. [Marshall, George C. / Pound, Dudley / Portal, Charles F.A. / Somerville, James F. / Wavell, Archibald P. / Hastings, L. Ismay et al]. A Brief & True Report Concerning Williamsburg in Virginia. [Signed by George Marshall and British Chiefs of Staff in 1943]. Being an Account of the most important Occurrences in that Place from its first Beginning to the present Time. A third Edition revis’d & enlarged by the Author. Williamsburg, Printed for Colonial Williamsburg by August Dietz, 1940. 20 x 12 cm. xii, 406 pages. With a frontispiece, two foldout maps and other illustrations. Brown calf with gilt line decorations. Label with gilt title on spine. Speckled edges. Good condition. Binding seriously rubbed and bumped. Material losses to spine and spine label. Abrasion to boards. Edges dust dulled. Internally slightly age darkened, otherwise in very good condition. Initials A.F.B. and 13 signatures on front end papers. Placed and dated (Williamsburg, Virginia 5/16/43). Text block bright and clean.

Provenance: From the Library of Sir Alan Francis Brook, Field Marshal Alanbrooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke.

The Third Washington Conference (codenamed Trident) was held in Washington, D.C from May 12 to May 25, 1943. It was a World War II strategic meeting between the heads of government of the United Kingdom and the United States.
On May 15, 1943 the Combined Chiefs of Staff (US and UK Military Leaders) travelled to Williamsburg, Virginia. On Sunday May 16, they attended a church service in Williamsburg, followed by lunch hosted by the Mayor of Williamsburg, before traveling back to Washington D.C.
The following signatures can be found on the front end papers of this book (left to right, top to bottom):
1. Kenneth Chorley – President of Colonial Williamsburg
2. Vernon Geddy – Attorney, Executive Vice President of Colonial Williamsburg
3. Channing M. Hall – Mayor of Williamsburg, 1934 – 1947
4. Dudley Pound – First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Navy, Royal Navy
5. Charles F.A. Portal – Marshal of the Royal Air Force
6. Richard E.C. Peirse – Air Chief Marshal, Royal Air Force
7. James F. Somerville – Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
8. George C. Marshall – Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, later Secretary of State, and Nobel Peace Prize winner (1953)
9. Archibald P. Wavell, Field Marshall, later Commander in Chief, India & Viceroy India
10. Hastings L. Ismay – General British Army, later first Secretary General of NATO
11. H. Merrill Pasco – Lieutenant Colonel, Aide to General Marshall
12. Frank McCarthy – Brigadier General, later Film Producer (‘Patton’)
13. Joseph T. McNarney – was a United States Army Air Forces / Air Force general officer who later served as Military Governor of occupied Germany
The initials at the top are A.F.B. for Alan Francis Brooke, Field Marshal Alanbrooke.
In a letter to Mrs. M.C.Long on June 23, 1955 Marshall describes the trip to Williamstown in 1943 as follows:
’…I was most impressed of him as a guest of mine when I was entertaining the British Chiefs of Staff with Lord Wavell and his subordinate Chiefs at the restored, ancient Colonial Capital Village of Williamsburg, Virginia. Some swam (the Sea Lord Dudley Pound), some occupied themselves in photography (Lord Wavell), but Alanbrooke, with his field glasses, devoted his time to a study of the Virginia birds in that locality. His persistence and his pleasure in the task were very appealing.
We had been having a very hard time in Washington reaching agreements, but the weekend in Williamsburg with no business discussions cleared the air entirely.’
According to the official reports about this visit other guests at Williamsburg in May 1943 were Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal, chief of the British air staff; Admiral Sir James Somerville, commander in chief of the Eastern Fleet; and Lieutenant General Sir Hastings Ismay.

• Keywords: Americas · Great Britain · History · History & Culture · Politics · World War 2
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 101223AB

Our price: EUR 2.800,--