MOUNTBATTEN, Louis (1900-79). Report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Allied Commander South-East Asia 1943-1945, London, 1951, 4to, buckram, wrappers bound in. A HIGHLY IMPORTANT PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Mountbatten to Eden.

MOUNTBATTEN, Louis, 1st Earl of Burma (1900-79).  Report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Allied Commander South-East Asia 1943-1945. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1951. 4to (274 x 215mm). Full-page maps, many printed in colours, charts. Contemporary cream buckram [?for Anthony Eden], spine with tan morocco lettering-piece gilt, top edges gilt, others uncut (some light staining and ink-spotting), original coloured printed wrappers bound in. Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (modern armorial bookplate loosely-inserted). FIRST EDITION, A HIGHLY IMPORTANT PRESENTATION COPY, the verso of the upper wrapper, facing the title page, poignantly inscribed, "To Anthony, in memory of his very gallant son, from Dickie." 'Dickie' was Louis Mountbatten's nickname among his family and closest friends. Anthony Eden's son referred to in the inscription, his oldest, was Simon Gascoigne Eden (1924-45) who served as a navigator with the 62nd Squadron of the Royal Air Force in Burma in June 1945 where he went missing in action. He was declared dead on June 23 of the same year.