A Great War archive of Captain E.C. Behrens, Adjutant "The Radiator" 1916-18
["THE RADIATOR" A PERIODICAL OF THE GREAT WAR] Archive of Captain E. C. Behrens, Adjutant, including a near-complete run of “The Radiator” (1916–1918), with associated correspondence, photographs, and presentation material.
Borough Road College, Isleworth, 1916–1918.
Folio folder (240 x 290 mm), titled in gilt “THE RADIATOR (FILE COPIES)”, containing 17 issues of the depot periodical The Radiator, December 15, 1916 to April 1918, and June 1918 (lacking May 1918), each issue 12 pp., all in original printed wrappers; together with a 4 pp. autograph letter signed from Colonel T. J. Kearns to Captain Behrens (26 January 1918), on embossed Borough Road College stationery; a presentation plate from five Boy Orderlies (January 1917); a signed menu card with ink caricature and signatures of officers (January 1918); and two photographs of uniformed women staff (one a group portrait, one individual, the latter signed by the photographer). Original cloth folder worn and marked, contents generally very good, occasional light creasing and toning.
Borough Road College, Isleworth, was requisitioned for the Army Service Corps and adapted as a training centre for drivers, mechanics, and administrative staff responsible for the operation and maintenance of motor vehicles, a function of increasing strategic importance as the war progressed.
The periodical The Radiator (a title emblematic of this new mechanical culture) was issued for circulation within the depot. It combined instructional content, humour, reportage, and illustration. The preserved run, extending from the first issue on December 1916 through mid-1918, includes a fine portrait plate of Colonel T. J. Kearns after William Strang in the opening number, and a series “History of the M.T.” with illustrations charting the evolution of transport “through the ages”. Such ephemeral publications were seldom preserved in sequence, and survivals in institutional runs are notably scarce. There are only 6 institutions that hold The Radiator in any capacity according to copac, with none in commerce.
The archive is anchored by Captain E. C. Behrens, Adjutant of the depot, whose administrative role placed him at the centre of its daily operations. The accompanying autograph letter from Colonel Kearns, dated 26 January 1918, congratulates Behrens on “today’s Gazette” and praises his “excellent work… as my Adjutant during the last ten months”, indicating official recognition, likely connected to promotion or formal notice in the London Gazette.
Particularly noteworthy are the two photographs of uniformed women staff, showing the expanding role of women in military support functions, likely connected with the Army Service Corps or associated auxiliary services. The signed menu card shows a humorous ink caricature of a non-commissioned officer and multiple officer signatures (January 1918).
Taken together, the archive presents a well-documented picture of a specific wartime institution at a pivotal moment in military history: the shift from horse power to motor transport. Such material tied together through its Adjutant within a single depot, are uncommon on the market.