[Photo Album]: "The Travels of Trott." World War II Middle East. Two Volumes by TROTT, Lieutenant Maurice - 1946

Middle East, 1946. Hardcover. Very Good. Two volumes. String-tied wooden and leather photo albums. Measuring 7½" x 12" and 8" x 12". The two albums contain 521 sepia toned or black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring between 1" x 1" and 8½" x 6", with captions. Albums are very good with some rubbing and tiny tears with near fine photographs.

Two albums kept by Lieutenant Maurice Trott while stationed with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a medical officer in Jerusalem during World War II. Trott was a dentist with the No. 644 Squadron RAF and documented his time in the Middle East with the group at the end of World War II and continuing into 1946. The 644 was used for glider towing and supply drops as well as transporting paratroopers. Trott spent his time with the RAF in and around Jerusalem recording his experiences with the local people, military, and sights of the city with fascinating amateur photographs. The images show both the "old" and "modern" city of Jerusalem with photos of "Arabs," women transporting water, camels, and men playing "a game of cric-crac" in a park. There are numerous group photos and portraits of the men Trott served with posing around their tented encampment and the Medical Officer's barracks. One photo shows an RAF briefing which includes a diagram of "friendly" aircraft and "hostile" and states "need to know these to save your own skin."

The second album continues with photos of planes with one image captioned, "dawn at dispersal" and another, "prior to take off," showing a squadron awaiting a drop order. Many of these photos are in Jerusalem and Palestine and show medical officers, pilots, and other military personal on duty as well as interacting with locals. One photo of a RAF officer shows him dressed in traditional Middle Eastern garments and reads, "the Sheikh of Aqir or the Dentist who Turned Native." There are also photos of Trott in his surgery performing dental operations on soldiers with captions such as "note the happy patient." One page captioned, "644 Squadron dropping 21st IND Paratroop Company 6th Airborne Division," shows wonderful images of a paratrooper drop as viewed from the ground. Paratroopers with recently deployed parachutes are seen drifting from the sky among the numerous planes that released the men. Their landing is also documented with captions such as, "belly landing" and "safely down." A trip to the Dead Sea is titled, "the lowest place on the Earth's surface. Home at Last!" and features men on beaches enjoying the sea. An image of fresh faced officers in front of a plane reads, "you're doing a grand jarb" and another of a man in a jeep reads, "just back from the desert." One particularly interesting image shows a plane in flight, a "tempest of 6 Squadron," taken while Trott was the passenger in another plane. These along with a number of other photos show the RAF station in Cyprus and the "pilots of the shiny six" the men of No. 6 Squadron RAF, with images of various planes from Mustangs to Lancasters and the men who flew them. One page shows a pilot, Syd Walker, before and after an engine malfunction and a "lucky escape."

An extensive and interesting collection of end of war and post war photography in the Middle East which captured the working R.A.F. and its medical crew.