Lot 449

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Description:


Great lot of three field-marked military maps with impeccable provenance to the staff of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. HAROLD W. BLAKELEY (1893 - 1966), commander of the 4th Infantry Division Artillery at the time of Operation Overlord through the Battle of the Bulge. Includes: American War Office map of the Chaumont-Strasbourg region of France, 45.5 x 28 in., First Edition, issued 1943, with the designation 'Sheet 62' at top-right corner. An individual, likely Blakeley or his aide-de-camp, has circled various communes in pencil, including Luneville, Baccarat, Gerbeviller, Sarrebourg, Blamont, Domevre, Saverne, and Phalsbourg. WITH: British War Office map of the Le Mans region of France, 45.5 x 28 in., First Edition, issued 1941, with the designation 'Sheet 60' at top-right corner. An individual has added two potential routes between the French commune of Carrouges to Chateauneuf-en-Thymerais in indelible pencil, circling some cities en route in pencil and adding some letters in black ink. WITH: British War Office map of the Verdun-Wissembourg region of France, 45.5 x 28 in., First Edition, issued 1941, with the designation 'Sheet 57' at top-right corner. An individual, likely Blakeley or his aide-de-camp, has circled various communes in pencil, including Sarrebourg, Saverne, Haguenau, and Soultz. Folds, some showing clear signs of use, else very good. The 4th Infantry Division assaulted the northern coast of German-held France during the Normandy landings, landing at Utah Beach on D-Day, later clearing the Cotentin peninsula and advancing to Paris by the end of August. Shortly thereafter, the division saw heavy fighting in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, and after shifting towards theSiegfried Line, they would meet the German Army's Ardennes Offensive head-on (in the Battle of the Bulge starting in 1944. These maps were retained by Blakeley's aide-de-camp, Capt. Roswell F. MacGillivray, the stepfather of our consignor. Adding additional provenance is photocopies of a number of documents related to MacGillivray's service under Maj. Gen. Blakeley, including: a partial list of the general staff of the 4th Infantry Division, 1p. 4to., [n.p.], May 15, 1945, listing Blakeley as the division commander (following his promotion in December of 1944), with MacGillivray listed beneath as his aide-de-camp; a personal postwar letter from Blakeley to MacGillivray, 1p. 4to., Washington, D.C., Dec. 22, 1955; a June 24, 1945 pass allowing MacGillivray to travel from Le Havre to Paris and Glasgow, by order of Blakeley; an extracted appendix to an after-action report, 1p. 4to., [n.p.], Jan. 7, 1945, reporting that Blakeley and MacGillivray, with their command group, entered Paris on Aug. 25, 1944 and were present at the surrender of the German garrison; MacGillivray's post-dated promotion certificate to the rank of captain; and a travel plan, 1p. 4to., Camp Butner, North Carolina, Aug. 23, 1945, indicating that Blakeley and MacGillivray are to travel to a reception in Washington.

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October 28, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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