MS 927
Reference code
MS 927
Title
Second World War papers of Sergeant Annie Gouk
Level
Sub-fonds
Administrative / Biographical history
Annie Gouk was part of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (A.T.S), the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. She was one of the first service women to land in France and served as the mess steward to Field Marshal B.L. Montgomery. After her marriage, her name became Mrs Annie B. Targett.
Date
1938-1948
Extent & medium
2 boxes
Content description
The papers were collected by Sgt Annie Gouk, while on active service during the Second World War and contains:
- Photograph album/ scrapbook complied by Gouk, and covering the years 1939-1945. It contains photographs taken throughout her wartime service, news cuttings concerning her wartime role, letters she received, and Christmas cards received during the war. Gouk has dated and annotated the volume throughout
- Blue folder containing various personal and ephemeral items, including photographs of Gouk taken during the war, letters she received after the war ended, an invitation and a menu card from The Embassy, Berlin for a dinner given on the occasion of the marriage on Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Louis Mountbatten; and copies of Gouk’s birth, marriage and death certificates
- Blue folder containing letters to Sgt. Annie Gouk, dated 1942-1945, including official correspondence relating to her role as the mess steward for 21st Army Group.
- Autograph album, where Gouk has collected signatures from members of the 21st Army Group and other notable persons she met while on duty. A photograph accompanies some of the signatures. Persons identified include: William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury; Field Marshal J.C. Smuts; Captain Harris; Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; Prince Olav of Norway; Frank Newton-Smith, Lord Mayor of London; B.L. Montgomery
- Copy of ‘Ten Chapters 1942-1945’ by B.L. Montgomery, the copy was given by Montgomery personally to Gouk in 1945
- Three service medals belonging to Sgt Annie Gouk. The medals include the War Medal 1939–1945 (awarded to subjects of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces at some point during the Second World War); the France and Germany Star (specifically for service in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany); and the Defence Medal (awarded to subjects of the British Commonwealth for both non-operational military and certain types of civilian service during the Second World War)
- Photograph album/ scrapbook complied by Gouk, and covering the years 1939-1945. It contains photographs taken throughout her wartime service, news cuttings concerning her wartime role, letters she received, and Christmas cards received during the war. Gouk has dated and annotated the volume throughout
- Blue folder containing various personal and ephemeral items, including photographs of Gouk taken during the war, letters she received after the war ended, an invitation and a menu card from The Embassy, Berlin for a dinner given on the occasion of the marriage on Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Louis Mountbatten; and copies of Gouk’s birth, marriage and death certificates
- Blue folder containing letters to Sgt. Annie Gouk, dated 1942-1945, including official correspondence relating to her role as the mess steward for 21st Army Group.
- Autograph album, where Gouk has collected signatures from members of the 21st Army Group and other notable persons she met while on duty. A photograph accompanies some of the signatures. Persons identified include: William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury; Field Marshal J.C. Smuts; Captain Harris; Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; Prince Olav of Norway; Frank Newton-Smith, Lord Mayor of London; B.L. Montgomery
- Copy of ‘Ten Chapters 1942-1945’ by B.L. Montgomery, the copy was given by Montgomery personally to Gouk in 1945
- Three service medals belonging to Sgt Annie Gouk. The medals include the War Medal 1939–1945 (awarded to subjects of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces at some point during the Second World War); the France and Germany Star (specifically for service in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany); and the Defence Medal (awarded to subjects of the British Commonwealth for both non-operational military and certain types of civilian service during the Second World War)
Provenance
The collection was assembled by Sergeant Annie Gouk during the Second World War and acquired by the library in 2001.
Associated material
This collection is part of a larger collection of Second World War papers held by Eton College Library. The other collections are:
MS 436: Second World War papers of John Henderson, principally relating to Field Marshal B.L Montgomery
MS 928: Second World War papers of J.C. Ogle, principally relating to ‘Operation Overlord’
MS 929: Second World War papers of Henry Gerson relating to Saint-Denis British Internment Camp
MS 930: Second World War collected ephemera
MS 436: Second World War papers of John Henderson, principally relating to Field Marshal B.L Montgomery
MS 928: Second World War papers of J.C. Ogle, principally relating to ‘Operation Overlord’
MS 929: Second World War papers of Henry Gerson relating to Saint-Denis British Internment Camp
MS 930: Second World War collected ephemera
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Number 76 of 102 at this Level
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