An extraordinary, historically significant matching pair of original, period-printed World War II communiqués issued by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), featuring the iconic facsimile signatures of Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
This lot represents the definitive "bookends" of the Allied victory in the European Theater of Operations, capturing the precise opening and closing acts of the liberation of Europe. Both documents measure the authentic, period-standard 6" x 9" dimensions and are printed on original, non-glowing wartime economy paper stock with crisp, beautifully struck typography.
Document 1: The D-Day Order of the Day (June 6, 1944): The legendary rally issued individually to over 150,000 Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force on the eve of the Normandy invasion. Contains the immortal phrasing: "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you."
Document 2: The SHAEF Farewell Letter (Mid-1945): The final, poignant order issued by Eisenhower to all commands upon the official dissolution of SHAEF. It serves as the ultimate victory address, opening with the powerful declaration: "The task which we set ourselves is finished, and the time has come for me to relinquish Combined Command." It features the distinctly accurate, slightly softer-contrast SHAEF patch insignia stamp characteristic of original late-war field press runs.
CONDITION REPORT:
Excellent / Very Fine. This set boasts an incredibly rare physical state of survival. While the vast majority of these ephemeral field documents were heavily folded, creased, or damaged in soldier pockets, both sheets in this lot feature crisp corners and are entirely free of vertical or horizontal creasing.
The documents exhibit honest, natural age-toning. The D-Day document shows some localized yellowing along the left edge margin, and both pages display historical corner/edge adhesive stains from long-term archival album placement. The paper is structurally sound, supple, and completely free of tears, pinholes, or brittle text-area degradation. An elite-tier, display-ready pairing for the serious WWII ephemera collector.
Dry mounted to foam board. 10"X15"
