FIELD MARSHAL HORATIO KITCHENER - AUTOGRAPH - HFSID 273047

HORATIO KITCHENER. Signature: "Kitchener/F.M.", 3¾x1¾. Slightly creased. Slightly soiled at blank areas, tape stains at upper and lower margins. Overall fine condition. Accompanied by Printed Photograph, unsigned. B/w, 5x7. Name and "1916" imprinted at upper background. Slightly creased at upper corners. Ink note (unknown hand) on verso (no show through). Fine condition. With Photograph of Printed Advertisement, unsigned. Color, 4¼x6¼. The advertisement, which depicts Kitchener, is headed: "Britons". Imprinted beneath Kitchener's image: "Wants YOU/Join Your Country's Army!/God Save the King". Ink note (unknown hand) on verso (no show through). Fine condition. This copy of a poster, which originally appeared on a magazine cover, was used as part of a campaign to encourage British enlistment in WWI, and it became one of the most enduring images of the war. Kitchener, who had been named Secretary of State for War at the onset on WWI, had been made a Field Marshal in 1910. Irish-born Horatio Kitchener (1850-1916) served in a number of diplomatic and Army posts. He was Vice-Consul of Anatolia before becoming Aide de Camp on Gordon's failed relief expedition to Sudan. Kitchener then made his famous survey (1874-1877) of what is now Israel and Palestine. During his second tour of Sudan (1886-1899), Kitchener headed the victorious Anglo-Egyptian army at the Battle of Omdurman (September 1898) and became Aide de Camp to Queen Victoria. Created Baron Kitchener in 1898, Kitchener then fought in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) before becoming Commander-in-Chief in India (1902-1909). Created an Earl in 1914, four years after he became a Field Marshal, Kitchener died while on a diplomatic mission to Russia aboard the HMS Hampshire. The ship struck a mine and sank, and Kitchener's body was never found, leading to a number of conspiracy theories. Three items.