New Edition Released Of "Last Train Over Rostov Bridge"

[MAten]

The 50th anniversary edition of Marion Aten's account of his time with RAF 47 Squadron in Russia during the Civil War, Last Train Over Rostov Bridge, has finally been released. It's available on Amazon. I was privileged to be able to contribute to it.

The book contains a new introduction, three new appendices (one of them contains letters from Ray Collishaw to Marion Aten's sister, written on the occasion of Marion's death in 1961), a new biography section, copious footnotes, a photograph section and a new index. Dr. Leonie Rosenstiel (Arthur Orrmont's widow), Gary Radder (Marion's nephew), Brad Thompson (the publisher) and myself created the footnotes and appendices in order to expand the historical context and to also point out where, how and why this narrative memoir both agrees with and deviates from the historical record. We also strove to shed some light on the life of Marion Aten after the Civil War.

Dispersed throughout the new footnotes section are notes about LTORB written by George Treloar, who was an officer attached to the British Mission in Taganrog during the Russian Civil War that offers another perspective on the events described in the book.

During research for this new edition we discovered the original interview tapes that co-author Arthur Orrmont made with Marion Aten in 1960, as well as the voluminous correspondence between the two of them. Among other sources, we also utilized Marion's RAF personnel record, medical record, promotion certificates, etc. in preparing the appendices and footnotes. Information was also provided by the RAF Museum in London (Hendon), England, the Imperial Valley Historical Society and the San Diego Air and Space Museum, both located in California.

We added a photo section to the book containing 24 images. These were taken from the Aten family collection (Marion's personal collection, now in his nephew's possession) and from the collections of George Treloar, the Kinkead-Weekes family, and Leonie Rosenstiel. Almost all of these images have never been published before.

[Jim_Grundy]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention - will get a copy.

[RFT]

Mike,

Re : George Treloar

Treloar is a Cornish name. Do you happen to know where he was born?

Re : A Orrmont & M Aten

Is there any mention, by name, to any of the 'other ranks' among the correspondence between Arthur Orrmont and Marion Aten?

Incidentally, the original book was published by Cassell & Company on the 12th July 1962. My particular copy is a 'review' being released ahead of the publication date. A letter inside the book (issued by Cassell) doesn't name the recipient but clearly states that "no review" should appear before publication date.

Thanks in advance.

Rob.

[MAten]

Rob, George Treloar was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia in 1884. In 1919 he was appointed Assistant Military Secretary to the British Mission supporting the White Russians during the Civil War. In has later years he was a well known radio commentator in Australia. He made detailed notes about LTORB when it was first published, many of which we include in the new edition. He passed away in 1980.

The American edition of the book was published by Julian Messner on Sept. 19, 1961. Marion Aten had passed away on May 10, 1961, so he never saw the book published though he did correct the galley proofs. The last letter he wrote to Arthur Orrmont was dated May 5, 1961, just 5 days before his death.

There was a lot of correspondence between Marion and Arthur but the only specific "other ranks" name I recall was Frank Victor Cowdrell, called "Cowderdrill" by Marion (from memory on his part, probably). From what I recall, the correspondence in this regard didn't include very much beyond what is in the text of the book.

Mike

[RFT]

Good morning Mike, and thank you very much for your information on Mr Treloar.

AC2 (Batman) Frank Victor Cowdrill, 'toolsetter' was born in Birmingham, England. It appears he served in the army until June 1916 but do not know when he enlisted. He entered the RAF in October 1918 and where he served until his discharge in March 1921. He was one of the 176 other ranks who volunteered for war service in Russia, serving there from June 1919 to April 1920. His awards included the British War Medal, Victory Medal, Silver War Badge and the Russian Medal of Zeal (suspended from the ribbon of St Stanislaus).

I would very much like to obtain a photograph of Mr Cowdrill if, perchance, anyone has a copy.

Regards,

Rob.

[Pighills]

Looks like a brilliant book, so I've ordered it (through the Amazon link above, of course).

Thanks for letting us know of this new edition.