ALEC JOHN "HOWARD KERR" DAWSON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 08/09/1934 - HFSID 143726

ALEC JOHN DAWSON ("HOWARD KERR")
The British author and war veteran regrets missing a regimental reunion.
Autograph Letter signed: "Pratty/(Howard Kerr", 2 pages (front and verso), 7x9. 67 Cadogan Square [London], 1934 August 9. On personal letterhead to "My dear General", in full: "Many thanks for your letter. I am enclosing a cheque for £5 as a small contribution towards publishing the Regimental History [item not included]. I do apologize for my delay in replying to your letter, but I have been so very busy with arrangements for this Australian tour. For the same reason I was unable to go to the Regimental Reunion last week! Yours ever". Alex John "A. J." Dawson (1872-1951) was an English author of thirty books, some under his own name, and many under the pen name Howard Kerr. He is probably best remembered for his fiction and nonfiction books about dogs, notably the novel Finn the Wolfhound (1905). He was a noted dog breeder as well. Dawson traveled frequently to Morocco, recounting his adventures there in Things Seen in Morocco (1904). During the decade preceding World War I, Dawson wrote frequently about the military menace posed by Germany. During that war, he served on the Western front, and, after being invalided out of the front lines, returned to uniform as a major and a skilled propagandist, awarded an MBE and the Croix de Guerre for his writings. These included Somme Battle Stories (1916). Dawson served again in the Home Guard during World War II. Normal mailing folds. Creased at corners. Otherwise, fine condition.