August 1917., 08/06/1917-08/30/1917

The World War I Correspondence Series consists of letters among Arnold Lunn, family and friends, from February 1916 to December 1920. During this time, Lunn was in Switzerland, attending his father's hotel business, and arranging for the accommodations of interned British and French officers at the Lunn hotels. The allied officers, captured by the Germans, were exchanged for German officers on the condition that they were to remain in Switzerland until the end of the war. Under these circumstances, Arnold Lunn became friends with several officers, and he was especially fond of a group he called 'The Alphabet,' consisting of British author Joseph Ackerley, R.D. Evans, and E.T.R. Carlyon. Indeed, there are several letters by Joseph Ackerley and friends, vividly describing the lives of the interned officers in Switzerland. Other noted correspondents during this period, include mountaineers Marcel Kurtz, William August Breevort Coolidge and F.F. Roget. In addition, there are letters from Leonard Huxley, Geoffrey W. Young, S.P.B. Mais, Alec Waugh and Arnold Lunn's brother, Hugh Kingsmill, who was taken prisoner in 1917. There are also numerous letters between Arnold Lunn and Dora M. Jones, Henry Lunn's secretary, with long intellectual discussions. The correspondence is also rich in letters between Arnold Lunn and his parents, describing in detail aspects of the hotel business in Switzerland.