Englehart, Alva F.

[Archive of Typed Military Orders Relating to the Career of Colonel Alva F. Englehart, Spanning both World Wars]

[Various locations, including California, Hawaii, and the Philippines. 1917-1942]. [85]pp., mostly folio sheets. Some light wear, a few sheets torn with no loss. Some with manuscript signatures or small notations. Very good. Item #650

Archive of papers relating to the military career of Colonel Alva F. Englehart, spanning two World Wars and the entirety of his career from enlistment to retirement. Col. Englehart (1895-1945) was a native of Missouri. He enlisted in the Coast Artillery Corps of the Army as a Second Lieutenant in March 1917, near the end of World War I. He served in a wide variety of locales, as evidenced by the present archive. Through this series of military orders, one can trace Col. Englehart’s career which begins in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and carries him to the Philippines, San Francisco, Hawaii, Virginia, and Washington state. Most of the orders relate to relocations of assignment, promotions, and leaves of absence or furlough. While stationed in Manila in 1923, one of Englehart’s leaves gave him permission to visit China. While manning the harbor defenses in San Francisco in 1928, he is given leave to travel to Yosemite. He was promoted to the rank of Major while in Manila in 1930, and given two months leave to travel in China and Japan in 1931 before being reassigned to San Francisco.

In 1939, just before the entry of the United States into World War II, Englehart was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He was serving in the Hawaiian Department, and on September 12, he wrote a memo detailing his inspection of the defensive headquarters there, before being transferred to the harbor defenses of Puget Sound at Fort Worden, Washington. He was stationed at Fort Worden when war was declared, and made commanding officer of the 14th Coast Artillery there. In February 1941, Englehart suffered an attack of acute coronary thrombosis, and all of the documents here from 1941 and 1942 relate to his illness and his attempts to return to active duty in spite of his medical condition. Despite his attempts to be declared physically fit, he was retired from active duty in January 1942, the orders for which are present here. In 1944, Englehart took a position as a professor of military tactics at the University of California at Berkeley, a position he held until his sudden death from a heart attack the following year.

Price: $375.00