Dear Mr Schofield,
There may be a little help in our Journal No 102 (July 1952). A letter from
a French Pilot in Indo China who carried Kipling DefinitiveVerse ( rather
thicker than Kim and therefore perhaps an even better amulet !) sent the
following cutting ;-
UN FRANCAIS, AMI DE KIPLING MEURT AUX ETATS UNIS
New York. - M. Maurice Hamonneau , Francais habitant les Etats unis depuis
quelques annees, vient de mourir. Il fut le grand ami de l'ecrivain anglais
Rudyard Kipling, il a connu celui ci en 1916, lors que, seul recape de sa
compagnie de la Legion Etrangere a Verdun, et sauve grace a un livre de
Kipling porte sur la poitrine et qui amortit la balle, il a envoye ce livre
a Kipling qui venait de perdre son fils a la guerre. Une soilde amite a uni
les deux hommes, et M. Hamonneau et le seul ami que Kipling consentais a
recevoir lorsequ'il viva retire en Grande Bretagne. (Sorry I don't have
accents on my keyboard!)
The Editorial in the issue contains some more interest.
After reciunting the gist of the story the Editor continues ;- An obituray
notice in the New York Times of April 2nd, 1952 records that Maurice
Hamonneau died on March 31st at the age of 61. At seventeen he enrolled in
the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. Years later he became founder and
President of the French Foreign Legion in Brooklyn where he made a living in
later life binding books in wild animal skins and dealing in rare stones and
shells.
So presumably the son is likely to be In the U.S.A. rather than France. Some
needle, some haystack to paraphrase Churchill !
Young Hamonneau visited Bateman's five times.
I can send you photocopies of the pages if you wish.
Hope this helps a little - best wishes Michael Smith (Hon.Sec.)
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