A Collection of Sir Henry Cotton World War II RAF Documents Golf Photographs and Annotated Manuscript
This archive of historical ephemera is associated with the legendary British professional golfer Sir Henry Cotton (1907-1987). The collection includes two official Air Ministry letters addressed to Cotton during the early stages of World War II. The first letter, dated July 24, 1940, confirms his commission into the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) as a Pilot Officer on Probation. The second letter, an amendment dated August 1, 1940, directs him to report for immediate service at RAF Station, Loughborough College. The lot also features two vintage large-format black-and-white photographs mounted on heavy brown cardstock likely from a personal album. One photograph depicts Cotton in a full golf swing follow-through, and the second shows him walking through a crowd at a tournament. Completing the archive is a three-page typewritten manuscript titled She Was Our Reply to Bobby Jones, which is a biographical tribute to the career of golfer Joyce Wethered. The manuscript contains extensive handwritten edits, corrections, and additions in ink. These annotations appear period-correct and consistent with the provenance of the archive.
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