Original WW2 British Air Drop Leaflet. - Code G.96 [1943]. - Robert Lucas.

[Title]: Adolf Hirnschal, Gefreiter in Russland, schreibt an seine Frau in Zwieselsdorf.

[P.W.E. 1943]. Original aerial propaganda leaflet printed in red and black, illustrated. 2 pages. 216 x 268 mm. Text in German.

Code G.96 [1943]. Kirchner 5, 271.

Reprinted on the back of the leaflet is the first letter written by Corporal Adolf Hirnschal. Hirnschal was a fictional character imagined and created for the BBC by Austrian émigré writer Robert Lucas. In a series of letters to his wife, which he read aloud to a comrade before posting, the protagonist describes his regiment’s predicaments on the Eastern Front. In his stories, comical to the point of absurdity, Adolf Hirnschal exposed the many falsehoods churned out by the Nazi propaganda machine at home. They proved very popular among German listeners. From 1940 until the end of the war, the BBC’s German Service recorded and broadcast a total of 100 Hirnschal letters.​

Authenticated by Klaus Kirchner, with his hand stamp to verso. - Folded (not exactly) in the middle, archival stamp (crossed out by hand in ink), creasing (especially in upper left corner), stains in margins, small chips and closed tears to edges, still a decent copy of an interesting and rare leaflet.

Please note: the leaflet will be mailed folded along the existing fold lines.

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