Multi Signed Christmas Dinner XV Corps Sergeants The Great War 1918
XV CORPS SERGEANTS – Sergeants mess Christmas dinner menu 1918 (multi signed)
Mouvaux: Privately printed (1918)
A Christmas day 1918 menu [with] a black and white staff photograph dated 1919
The Menu: A4 sized piece of woven paper that has been folded in 2 places to create a leaflet, on the front has been illustrated by one of the staff a design by hand of the menu and this has been printed, complete with the XV Corps emblem, on each side of the front cover are illustrations initialled by the same artist also printed; in pencil one of the soldiers has signed his name at the top ‘H Broadbridge’ and I think it is more likely that he was an attendee at the dinner and the original owner of this menu; on the reverse in the centre is the menu that has been tipped in, on either side are the hand signed signatures of attending Sergeants, the waiters, chef and senior officers, there are 27 in total; overall this remarkable survivor is in good to very good condition, there are browning marks along the folded lines and a few spotting marks; it is fragile as can be expected; it is nothing short of astonishing that this menu has survived.
The photograph: A5 in size and in black and white; on the reverse there is a contemporary inscription that reads “XV Corps W.O + Sergeants Mess Mouvaux Nr Tourcoing France January 1919”, so this staff photo would have been taken only a week or two after their Christmas feast; it is likely that most, if not all, of the Sergeants pictured would have been at the dinner; overall in very good condition with some handling marks on the reverse of the photo.
A scarce survivor, that is somehow still with its accompanying photo of the band of Sergeants that would have attended the Christmas Dinner in 1918 in Mouvaux and signed this menu. On the front of the menu are two wonderful illustrations, drawn to signify the end of the war with the ink still yet to dry on the armistice agreement. On one side the illustration shows a Sergeant crouched behind a rock with the caption “The observation post something!!!??? Xmas 1917”, and then on the other is a Sergeant sweetly puffing on his cigarette dreaming of a turkey with the caption “Something good Xmas 1918”. A reflection of the mood in the Sergeants mess at that time.
XV Corps was formed in April 1916 and was an amalgamation of divisions and specialist companies such as a signals team and a mortar battery unit. Its aim was to support the army in critical battles across the western front where needed. The corps was large in numbers and so had these two dozen sergeants in charge of the men. They would see action in the battle of the Somme, Lys, Ypres, and the final advance in Flanders with many shown in the photo and attending this dinner, decorated heroes.
A truly remarkable menu and photo from the final moments of the great war, signed by the sergeants of XV Corps.