More from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

January 8, 2020 - Just when I thought nothing could surprise me, the following email arrived on December 28, 2019.

Dear Anne,

I hope you are doing well! I am writing to you about your father’s escape kit (which came in the badly decaying box). When I was processing the collection, I sent it to our conservation lab to determine whether it could be saved and whether or not we could keep it. Our conservator removed all of the individual items from the box (as the box was beyond saving), but has let me know that it is a ‘hard no’ – we cannot keep it because it contains both food and matches. I am very disappointed by this news, as you can imagine. We are having the pieces of the kit photographed, and that photograph will be included in our collection.

I mentioned to our conservator that the war museum uses epoxy in their ration kits, which results in everything being incased in a hard and completely clear resin, which can be handled and viewed without it rotting or degrading further. I saw this first-hand when I took a course there this summer.  Unfortunately, this is not an option for us, but she suggested that perhaps the War Museum might be interested, as they would have the ability to preserve it. This item is quite a rare one from what I can see – interestingly the Imperial War Museum in London does have one and it’s from someone who was also a Spitfire pilot in your father’s regiment (the 222 ‘Natal’). https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30083370

I checked the Canadian War Museum collections list and they do not have a kit like this. I checked the website for the museum and they have a form for donation that would need to be filled out (they do not accept inquiries without this form). I can fill out the form, but it would require your signature. Please let me know if this is something you are interested in.

I am attaching a quick photograph that I snapped of the material out of the box. Interestingly, there are Benzedrine tablets (an amphetamine) with a strict warning that one could only take a tablet every six hours but that it would keep you awake and alert for those six hours!  

If you decide not to try with the war museum or if they turn us down, please let me know what you would like me to do with it (dispose of it or send it back to you).

All the best and I apologize to be coming to you with this bad news,

Danielle
Danielle Van Wagner
Special Collections Librarian
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
University of Toronto

And then Danielle sent the following -

Dear Anne,

Thank you for your email and your kind words and I am happy to report that I have good news! I contacted the war museum for further details on their donation process and found that they are not accepting donations until mid-2020 (this is a fairly common practice for institutions with a large back log of donations as it allows them to catch up). However, I then thought of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, which is also a very good institution (and they have a Spitfire on display). I contacted them and received a very enthusiastic response that they are very happy to take it! I think this a great solution as the Warplane museum is more specifically about the air force and pilots and it will have a better chance of being displayed and used. I hope this is an acceptable outcome for you too.

I’ll be in touch later with any specific donation paperwork.

All the best,
Danielle

And so that's where the Escape Kit is now. My brothers are arranging to go and see it soon.

Here is a photo of the contents laid out at the Fisher Library before it was sent off.