Rare First World War naval signal book found in Oxfam shop

A lead-lined Royal Navy signal book from the First World War has been discovered in an Oxfam book shop more than a hundred years after it was meant to have been destroyed.

The General Signals Book, which is filled with confidential signals, was found with a box of donations at the back of Oxfam’s Bath bookshop by Simon Berry, the shop manager.

Noting the book’s connection to the Navy, Mr Berry passed the book on to volunteers, Richard Danns, a retired marine engineer, and Stuart Murray, who researched the book before placing it on Oxfam’s online shop.

They quickly realised just how special the book was when several historians started to ring the store.

The National Museum for the Royal Navy in Portsmouth bought the book for an undisclosed four-figure sum and has now placed it in its collection.

The existence of the book is rare because signal books were meant to be destroyed once they were no longer in use.

The distinctive lead lining would also have helped the book sink in case of an emergency – if the ship was in danger or captured by the enemy – so it could be thrown overboard to avoid falling into the wrong hands.

Mr Berry, 62, said: “I found the book at the end of the year among other donations in the back room.

“I knew the book was something to take note of because it had the lead-lined cover, so it looked quite obscure.

“But I don’t think we realised quite how special it was until we started getting calls from historians telling us how important it was. It felt like you were holding a piece of history in your hands.

“We are so pleased the book has found its way into the right hands with the museum and has helped raise so much money for Oxfam at the same time.

“It’s definitely not every day you handle or sell something of that value.”

Heather Johnson, from the museum, said: “Signal books are quite rare as copies were officially ordered to be destroyed when they went out of use.

“This would have been the duty of the officer in charge of keeping the confidential books, who had to send a certificate of destruction back to the Admiralty.”