A rare naval signal book from 1917, which is lead-lined to help it sink in the event of enemy capture, has been sold for a four-figure-sum to the National Museum for the Royal Navy after being discovered in a Bath charity shop.
Stuart Murray, Simon Berry and Richard Danns | Photo © Oxfam
The General Signals Book, which is filled with confidential signals dating from the First World War, was found with a box of donations at the back of Oxfam’s bookshop in Lower Borough Walls by the shop manager, Simon Berry.
Noting the book’s connection to the Royal Navy, he passed the book onto his volunteers, Richard Danns, who is a retired marine engineer, and Stuart Murray, who thoroughly researched the book, before placing it on Oxfam’s online shop.
They quickly realised just how special the book was when a number of historians started to ring the store, before the National Museum for the Royal Navy in Portsmouth got in touch to buy the book. The exact figure has not been revealed.
The rare General Signals Book from 1917 | Photo © Oxfam
They confirmed that the existence of the book is quite rare due to the fact that signal books were usually ordered to be destroyed once they were no longer in use.
The book’s unique lead lining would also have helped the book sink in case of emergency – if the ship was in danger or captured by the enemy – so it could be thrown aboard to avoid falling into the wrong hands.
Simon said: “I found the book at the end of the year among other donations in the back room. I knew the book was something to take note of because it had the lead-lined cover so it looked quite obscure.
“But I don’t think we realised quite how special it was until we started getting calls from historians telling us how important it was. It felt like you were holding a piece of history in your hands.
“We are so pleased the book has found its way into the right hands with the museum and has helped raise so much money for Oxfam at the same time.
“It’s definitely not every day you handle or sell something of that value!”
Ian Falkingham, Oxfam’s donated goods strategy lead, said: “We are so pleased that this special book has found a home with the National Museum for the Royal Navy in Portsmouth, where people can now visit and learn about it.
“It means so much to know that the money raised from the book will towards our life-saving work tackling poverty around the world – and for that, we are incredibly grateful.”
Heather Johnson, Librarian (Special Collections) at the National Museum for the Royal Navy, said: “The National Museum of the Royal Navy are delighted to have received a new item into their collection, a Confidential Book (C.B.) of signals dating from the First World War.
“Signal books are quite rare as copies were officially ordered to be destroyed when they went out of use.
“This would have been the duty of the officer in charge of keeping the confidential books, who had to send a certificate of destruction back to the Admiralty.”
